Iconic or not, Apples earbuds are pieces of (fecal matter). Just now, I took one of my earbuds out of my ear (the right one) in order to hear what someone was saying to me, but when I stuck it back in... no sound. The same song was playing the entire time through my iPhone 3GS, so the problem is absolutely the headphones. I simply took the earbud out of my ear, held it in my hand for about 10 seconds, and stuck it back in. The volume controls, clicker, other earbud, and microphone still work flawlessly, but no sound in this one.
These headphones are less than a month old and have only been in use for almost two weeks, with almost no signs of use (short of the headphones' desire to curl up in a ball). Not only is this completely messed up, but this isn't the first time I've wanted to kill a few of Apple's earbud engineers.
It all started back with my first iPhone (first gen)...
After about half a year of owning the device, I started to listen to music a lot more, so the earbuds experienced a good amount of abuse. Nothing compared to what some of my other headphones experience (and all of which work perfectly to this day). When I pulled my headphones out of my pocket one day, sound didn't come out of one of the buds. I figured I must have damaged them and went the the Apple store to buy a new set. I was absolutely astounded that they charged $30!
I bought the headphones because I used the clicker so much and at the time there weren't any good alternatives. I swore never to buy another pair from Apple again.
Those headphones were hardly used because of the experience I had with the previous buds. Eventually they started waring out and I decided to look for a replacement set before the buds completely fail.
At the beginning of this summer, I purchased a set of Atomic Bass Booster earbuds. Best purchase I have ever made. Outstanding sound quality and the plastic/rubber around the wires was very durable. These things still look brand new. All was well... until my iPhone 3GS.
About a month ago, I bought an iPhone 3GS. When it arrived, I grabbed the bundled headphones and threw them in a drawer in disgust. No way on earth I was going to use those pieces of (fecal matter). I grabbed my awesome earbuds and stuck them in my new iPhone and started enjoying music. I soon realized that the clicker was able to pull up the voice control, so I was very pleased. That was until I tried to change the song...
I was at work the following day when I song I didn't feel like listening to at the moment came up, so naturally I click the clicker twice to go to the next one. The music stops, but instead of the next song coming in, I hear a beep and all is silent. I take a look at my iPhone and realize that it went into voice control. Thinking I held the click too long, I slide the cancel bar and try again with the double click. Once again I try to change the song. Same result. I try many times to the point where I'm getting very frustrated (anyone who knows me knows that I rarely lose my temper, so this has been a lot of tries) but finally, it works! I try to change the song again to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but it works again! I can even go back a song too. I figure that the voice control problem was a fluke and move on with my life.
A few hours later, it happens again. Once again I fight the clicker until it is able to change a song. Repeatedly throughout the day I fight the iPhone and can never find any discernible pattern for when the phone decides to have the clicker bring up voice control or change the song. I am PISSED. My headphones work flawlessly in the first in second gen iPhones (believe me, I have tested), but Apple has changed something in the 3GS to render my older headphones useless.
Not wanting to go to the Apple earbuds, I try and live with not being able to use the clicker properly. Every day was aggravating to the point where I finally decided to switch. I took out the earbuds that came with the 3GS and placed my better set of earbuds in my drawer. After cursing a few Apple engineers for the terrible decision to screw over users of older third party headphones, I moved on. The sound quality wasn't terrible and I now had volume controls.
Now we come back to today, when one of the earbuds suddenly stopped working. Needless to say I'll be sending Mr Jobs' email screener a complaint when I get home tonight. Despite living and working less than a quarter of a mile from an Apple store, working full time makes visiting it a pain in the (lower back region). Rest assured that I will not be leaving the Apple store without a working set of earbuds when I can get a chance to go.
If anyone could point me in the direction of some <$40 earbuds (in-ear preferred for bass) that have a working clicker (volume controls would be helpful too), work on the 3GS, and will actually last as long as the iPhone, I would very much appreciate it.
These headphones are less than a month old and have only been in use for almost two weeks, with almost no signs of use (short of the headphones' desire to curl up in a ball). Not only is this completely messed up, but this isn't the first time I've wanted to kill a few of Apple's earbud engineers.
It all started back with my first iPhone (first gen)...
After about half a year of owning the device, I started to listen to music a lot more, so the earbuds experienced a good amount of abuse. Nothing compared to what some of my other headphones experience (and all of which work perfectly to this day). When I pulled my headphones out of my pocket one day, sound didn't come out of one of the buds. I figured I must have damaged them and went the the Apple store to buy a new set. I was absolutely astounded that they charged $30!
I bought the headphones because I used the clicker so much and at the time there weren't any good alternatives. I swore never to buy another pair from Apple again.Those headphones were hardly used because of the experience I had with the previous buds. Eventually they started waring out and I decided to look for a replacement set before the buds completely fail.
At the beginning of this summer, I purchased a set of Atomic Bass Booster earbuds. Best purchase I have ever made. Outstanding sound quality and the plastic/rubber around the wires was very durable. These things still look brand new. All was well... until my iPhone 3GS.
About a month ago, I bought an iPhone 3GS. When it arrived, I grabbed the bundled headphones and threw them in a drawer in disgust. No way on earth I was going to use those pieces of (fecal matter). I grabbed my awesome earbuds and stuck them in my new iPhone and started enjoying music. I soon realized that the clicker was able to pull up the voice control, so I was very pleased. That was until I tried to change the song...
I was at work the following day when I song I didn't feel like listening to at the moment came up, so naturally I click the clicker twice to go to the next one. The music stops, but instead of the next song coming in, I hear a beep and all is silent. I take a look at my iPhone and realize that it went into voice control. Thinking I held the click too long, I slide the cancel bar and try again with the double click. Once again I try to change the song. Same result. I try many times to the point where I'm getting very frustrated (anyone who knows me knows that I rarely lose my temper, so this has been a lot of tries) but finally, it works! I try to change the song again to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but it works again! I can even go back a song too. I figure that the voice control problem was a fluke and move on with my life.
A few hours later, it happens again. Once again I fight the clicker until it is able to change a song. Repeatedly throughout the day I fight the iPhone and can never find any discernible pattern for when the phone decides to have the clicker bring up voice control or change the song. I am PISSED. My headphones work flawlessly in the first in second gen iPhones (believe me, I have tested), but Apple has changed something in the 3GS to render my older headphones useless.
Not wanting to go to the Apple earbuds, I try and live with not being able to use the clicker properly. Every day was aggravating to the point where I finally decided to switch. I took out the earbuds that came with the 3GS and placed my better set of earbuds in my drawer. After cursing a few Apple engineers for the terrible decision to screw over users of older third party headphones, I moved on. The sound quality wasn't terrible and I now had volume controls.
Now we come back to today, when one of the earbuds suddenly stopped working. Needless to say I'll be sending Mr Jobs' email screener a complaint when I get home tonight. Despite living and working less than a quarter of a mile from an Apple store, working full time makes visiting it a pain in the (lower back region). Rest assured that I will not be leaving the Apple store without a working set of earbuds when I can get a chance to go.
If anyone could point me in the direction of some <$40 earbuds (in-ear preferred for bass) that have a working clicker (volume controls would be helpful too), work on the 3GS, and will actually last as long as the iPhone, I would very much appreciate it.
