Jacked up

Losing Headphones and the Headphone Jack

By | Liam Olson

Headphones are an essential for every college student, and it is the worst when you lose them. Without them, you would not be able to listen to music while doing your homework or watch a video without annoying the people next to you.

You could leave them at home to only forget where they are or leave them at the library on accident.

But you’re not alone, many others lose their headphones all the time.

Library Circulation and Student Assistant Sineva Hosea, is an environmental science major in her junior year. She finds lost objects all the time around the library while she is working, but headphones seem to be the most common.

Earlier in the week, she even found a pair of earbuds along with the iphone that they were attached to. Luckily, the owner was able to retrieve their phone and earbuds from the lost and found. But others are not so lucky and have to go buy a new pair of earbuds. “Some don’t get returned, but when I do my rounds, I mostly find earphones,” said Hosea.

In the near future, wired earbuds and headphones could be a thing of the past. Apple removed the standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and soon other companies, such as Samsung, may follow this model.

This change forces customers to switch to small, wireless earbuds. The new design could lead to more earbuds getting lost since there are no wires to keep it from slipping out of your pocket.

When asked about this new design, students are not fond of the idea that would have to change to wireless earbuds and headphones.

Brittany Heller, an international studies major in her senior year, is used to the normal wired earbuds. She finds that it is easier to keep track of wired earbuds over wireless earbuds since the wires help her hold on to her earbuds so she would not lose them.

“I wouldn’t know where to put them,” she said.

Amber Norwood, a zoology major in her junior year, keeps track of her earbuds, but her friends seem to lose theirs often. She says they have to go buy new a new pair about every month. She thinks that  wireless earbuds would be easier to lose with their small design. It would also become expensive to replace them often.

The thought of having two separate earbuds makes you appreciate how they have always been connected by a wire, so that one earbud is never lost. “It would suck to lose one and still have the other,” Norwood said.