Music is something that I feel very strongly about, I listen and play music almost every day, but I could not do this if it wasn't for the invention of the modern day headphones. For the purpose of my ICT project in college I began to research headphones, their uses and mainly their history and where they came about. I found a very interesting article on randomhistory.com which I have linked below!

The article deals mainly with the history of the headphones, how they work, their popularity in modern culture as well as dealing with how we may take such an outstanding piece in technological development for granted.

The article begins by outline a brief history of the headphone (or earphone) which is basically a small version of an amplifier. Of course none of this would have come about without the invention and discovery of electricity by Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb. This idea of currents and electrical waves was passed down to Edison’s fellow workers and men who went on to produce inventions that would create small, faint sound waves that eventually would be the beginnings of small amplifiers using radio (sound) waves that had been converted from electrical waves. All these movements depended on technological developments such as transistors and the discovery of strong and weak currents.

Skipping into the 1930s, the first mass produced headphones were made by the Beyerdynamic Company for the general public, although it was John C. Koss who invented the first stereo headphones in 1958.Koss’s headphones where small and light, directly contrasting the audio equipment before it. Koss’s design inspired for newer better designs to be made for the general public with better quality.

As time went on, better headphones and better technology came about including Bluetooth/wireless headphones in the late 90’s. Headphones reached their peak of popularity (and still remain at peak) with the coming about of technology such as MP3 and MP4 players. Headphones were becoming better quality and made in more unique and individual ways, with the Apple IPod headphones being a main example of how mainstream they were becoming. Nowadays, headphones are widely available in all shapes, colours and sizes, as well as being available for such cheap prices.

In my opinion, headphones are one of the best technological developments that could have happened. They create an availability of private music on the go, they are extremely useful for musicians around the world for recording, creating and listening to music not to mention the business possibilities that come with such a small, simple but important technology.

I myself own 3 pairs of headphones, a large pair of  Sony MDR-XB500’s that I use at home when listening to music or watching a movie for the extra quality and high definition sound, a pair of Veo XXB’s that I use when doing excersise as they are light, comfortable but lack in quality in some ways and finally a classic pair of Apple IPod earphones that combine comfort and quality for listening to music on the go. Music is a huge part of my life and without it, I couldn’t survive, which is why I am very thankful and appreciative that headphones were created!!

CML

http://www.randomhistory.com/2008/08/20_headphones.html