I wish this obsession carried over to the UX of some of the more recent software, most notably the new itunes. I'm floored with how many clicks it takes to purchase something in the itunes store these days :(
Then how about making earpods/headsets that don't suck and fall apart? (To be fair, I've heard that the Apple in-ear ones are decent, at least to start.)
Apple's in-ear phones are indeed vastly better than the default earbuds -- in fact, they compare favourably with similarly-priced offerings from Shure and Etymotic, and are competitive on price.
I suspect Apple's standard "free" earbuds are actually deliberately bad because they're intended to upsell the customer on a better pair of earphones -- and a customer who's buying in an Apple store will of course be exposed to Apple's in-ear phones as a possible upgrade.
(Full disclosure: I use a pair of Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10's which kick the shit out of the Apple ear canal phones ... on the other hand, they're a lot more expensive. In the sub-$100 earphone range, the Apple in-ear phones are fine.)
They are truly reference-class equipment. (My Brain-Age2 word-discrimination score would jump a whopping amount just by using those!) I don't use them unless I'm on a plane, though. In-ear is just too much effort/overhead for me.
These Sennheisers had decent sound and folded up to fit in a dandy little case. However, my girlfriend at the time told me that they look so dorky, she didn't want to be seen in public with me wearing them.
http://amzn.com/B001NZ8PHQ
Then I told her that there's even better sounding headphones (non-iPhone) in the same price range that look even dorkier. She didn't believe me until I sent her the link.
http://amzn.com/B00001P4ZH
Apple needs to solve the headphone/headset design problem!
That last one does deserve a 'wow'. There's just something about them that makes me say 'no'.
Grados, on the other hand, are full of gooey retro goodness: http://www.gradolabs.com/product_pages/rs1.htm I have an 80, and it's amazing how many random music geeks will start talking to you just because you have them on.
Since you've used some: have a recommended starting point for Etymotics? I've been looking for something isolating to complement the I-can-hear-that-ant-tapdancing-through-my-music of the Grados.
A coworker of mine had the made-for-iPod Etymotics. (6i) The build quality wasn't even half as good as my ER4's. The ER4's are really robust. I can't imagine them wearing out, ever! The 6i's are an old model, though. I don't know what the newer ones are like.
I bought my sister some bluetooth Etymotics which are no longer made. She really liked those. I also have an Ety.com headset, which is really good at what it does. (Allows you to have a phone conversation in really noisy environments.)
My advice: try some from a store with a really good return policy. They are not for everyone. Also, I'd just buy the ER4's, unless you want an iPhone headset. They are a very good in-ear phone with superb isolation, especially if you are sitting still, and you can use them to do serious sound work.
I (apparently) have rather large ear canals, and a lot of in-ears don't seal properly. I've had the worst luck with the triple-flange style. As such, I kind of need something with larger sizes than normal, and / or get something custom molded (which I'm seriously considering). Know a good place to look for any of that?
I do not recommend the Apple in-ear ones. I got a pair of $15 in-ear headphones that sound much, much beter (compared to the $70 for the Apple set). The Apple pair sounded tinny, which for the price really isn't worth it.
Now to find ones that sound good but have a mic+remote...
The main problem with the Apple in ears buds is the seal. Fix the seal with some decent buds like
http://www.complyfoam.com/Product/T%7B48%7D400
and the bass comes. Its nearly as good as my westone UM2's that I have. All it took was some cheap foam
They sound better than the cheap $15 earphones Sony or Philips wills sell you. They are much better than pretty much anything that comes with any other device.
They still suck. But they suck less than the competition.
Every company has engineers who obsess over every tiny design detail. The trick is having a management structure that allows the good ideas to flourish without getting swamped by all the impractical or unhelpful ideas.
This is an incredibly difficult problem which is itself composed of several incredibly difficult problems (related to corporate culture, hiring, promotions, process, etc, etc.) The difficulty of this is easy to see when you compare the fit and finish of the average piece of software or hardware on the market, for example. Most are just agglomerations of feature-sets that have been whacked with a mallet until they fit together roughly and hit with a bit of sandpaper to take off a few of the biggest splinters and sharp corners.
It is worth noting that, as evidenced by the fact that (e.g.) Toshiba still sells plenty of computers, many customers really don't care that much about design details. No doubt there are many who do, and no doubt there is a third group that vacillates back and forth depending upon what seems trendy that year or what their friends have or whatever.
