Digiday:
Headphones are a fact of life inside open plan offices, but Airpods have quickly become a staple of life at ad agency life, with staffers walking around all day with the signature little pods in their ears.
And:
“I know they’re not listening to music, or anything, but it’s still disconcerting to see them with something in their ears while we’re all discussing something,” said one agency CEO, who said he once had a meeting with someone wearing Airpods. “It’s like, ‘what?’”
Fascinating piece. I’ve had plenty of conversations with people with AirPods in my own ears, and/or with AirPods in theirs. One key difference between AirPods and Beats Powerbeats Pro is the ability to hear background noise. The Powerbeats Pro are designed to wedge tightly into the ear canal, making conversation more difficult, at least to me, than with AirPods in my ears.
And the almost viral spread of AirPods means more people keeping them in their ears on a regular basis.
“Airpods are a totally different phenomenon,” said Michelle Edelman, Petermayer evp and chief strategy officer. “The product is honestly good, but wearing them 24/7 is going to mess with the notion of when you can and can’t disturb someone. So it’ll change social norms if people just start to leave them in during meetings.”
And:
“Just yesterday, I was walking on the street listening to a partner review some important data with me and a woman stopped me to ask for directions as she didn’t see my Airpods,” she said. “I had to do that thing where I listened to two people talk to me at once for about a minute before telling both of them I didn’t hear what either of them said.”
Or it could be the woman didn’t see AirPods as a sign that you were necessarily unavailable for listening.
Very interesting article.
First, when management stuffs everyone into the same space and expects them to concentrate wearing headphones is a natural adaptation. If they ban headphones people will wear, I don’t know earmuffs. It is very easy to forget you have the airpods in. They don’t impede hearing and they are super light.
Second, did not some people wear their Bluetooth headsets all the time? No one used them to listen to music or podcasts or talk to Siri, but they left them in all the damn time (especially if your job was to talk on the phone). Maybe they just need to make airpods in black and people will chill out.
Third, battery life , people. Don’t you need to put them in their case sometime to let them charge.
It’s almost impossible to explain how good Airpods are to somebody who hasn’t used them. Absolutely one of the best, sadly under-appreciated, products/innovations to come out of Apple, ever.
I do not understand why the people in charge of the meeting and/or company can not simply say please remove any headphones/Airpods/BT devices while the meeting in in progress. It really is that simple.
“when management stuffs everyone into the same space and expects them to concentrate”
Worst architectural con since the demise of sweat shops. Just because boiler-rooms stuff people in, cafeteria-style, into a space without walls, doesn’t mean it will translate into big profits for the typical corporate headquarters.
So may people are wearing them, pretty soon you won’t have anyone else to explain it to.
I deliberately remove my headphones when I get coffee or walk through the halls, because people will not talk to me if I leave my AirPods in. And talking to people in the office is why I’m working in an office and not from home, remotely.
Social norms will change, however, and it will be commonplace for people to wear AirPods in any situation. Like when “business casual” became “smart casual” and
kidsyoung adults began wearing jeans to work, rather than slacks.Oh, pish-tosh. That “agency CEO” sounds as though he needs constant validation. “Totally different phenomenon,” my flabby ass.
That second quote sounds as though the speaker isn’t very good at handling interruptions.
I leave them in my ears and turn off the music/podcast feed from the phone as needed. Most people under 40 who are working retail or customer service understand this and speak to me at normal levels.
Oh, pish-tosh. That “agency CEO” sounds as though he needs constant validation. “Totally different phenomenon,” my flabby ass.
That second quote sounds as though the speaker isn’t very good at handling interruptions.
I leave them in my ears and turn off the music/podcast feed from the phone as needed. Most people under 40 who are working retail or customer service understand this and speak to me at normal levels.