Life's Tangles

We've all gone through many headphones over the years when using iPods. The most important lesson any iPod owner learns is to stop using the bundled ear buds. Once you try a decent set of buds or over-the-ear headphones, you'll realize how much you've been missing by using the Apple phones. The problem is always finding one that suits the requirements of a variety of situations: active sports, inclement weather, loud or quiet environments, winter hats, fashion demands, etc. It's hard to find one set that does it all. Many of us, therefore, now own a fine collection of headphones. The headphone industry is clearly sleeping with Apple executives.

Despite this, I've recently found myself in the retro and counter-intuitive habit of using the 1st generation buds that I have lying around. The sound may be terrible, but they are convenient for everyday use inasmuch as you can hear enough of the outside world to avoid making yourself a victim of an oncoming bus or a threat to those around you. Popping one out of your ear is easy if you forced into human interaction and have a quick conversation (just drop one bud over your shoulder), and they're so cheap-sounding that you don't care if you sit on them, drop them, or lose them. Which is why, of course, you can never lose them!

One downside, other than the sound quality, is their propensity to tangle. A simple, quick solution can be found on the Lifehacker.com posting: IPod: How to wrap a headphone cord - Lifehacker. It's a neat little method of coiling the buds, that provides an equally efficient way of uncoiling them - all without spending any money on a fancy "bud wrapper" mechanism.

You may have seen this before, but it may be useful rediscovering this frustration-saving technique.

That's a wrap. (Argh.)