http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rme3uZ_abc
Apple yesterday introduced the new in-ear headphones called EarPods that ship with every iPod touch, iPod nano and iPhone 5 (also available as a standalone accessory). The promotional video was published on Apple’s web site, explaining how the company went about re-engineering its previous crappy in-ear headset and why it spent three years redesigning it.
Not everyone was aware of the clip and you needed QuickTime to stream it from Apple’s web site. Not anymore, as Apple uploaded the EarPods video to its YouTube channel. Let us know what you think in the comments…
Exhaustive research and development effort had Apple spent three years designing it.
From YouTube description:
A breakthrough for ears everywhere, Apple EarPods look unlike anything you’ve ever seen, and sound unlike anything you’ve ever heard.
Jonny Ive, Apple’s head of industrial design, says in the clip:
The human ear is so unique. No two are alike. Making one headphone to fit everbody’s ear would be like trying to make one pair of shoes to fit everybody’s feet.
I mean, it’s impossible.
So, how did Ive and his team go about re-thinking the headphone?
We three-dimensionally scanned hundreds of ears and looked for commonality. From that, we were able to determine the common volume.
“This was our starting point for developing a form to fit a broad range of ears.”
From there, the team determined the best shape to fit most people’s ears.
“The shape of the EarPod is actually defined by the geometry of your ear.”
Ive’s mission statement resonated with me:
Sound is so important to the way you experience an Apple product. So we wanted to make a headphone that was absolutely the very best it could be.
Indeed.
That said, the EarPods better fit and sound better than the crappy headset they replace, wouldn’t you agree?