Tech Table Radio Show

Tech Table
Tuesday, April 8, 2014

April 8, 2014

Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.

Diana: And I’m Diana.

Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.

Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest. Well, it is Tuesday here at the Tech Table.

Justin: It is Tuesday at the Tech Table, Diana, and we’re going to talk about something that can be a pain in the ear. Everyone has had bad earbud experiences. Well, you know, when I was a kid we didn’t have earbuds. We had headphones.

Diana: Right, and we’d just put them on, smash your hair.

Justin: And our ears were, well, okay. But, okay, so see, I was fine with headphones but yes, they smash your hair.

Diana: Here’s my problem with headphones: they don’t make them small enough for my head.

Justin: That’s interesting.

Diana: I have a small head, and even on the smallest, you know how you can adjust them?

Justin: Right. Even when they get to the smallest size, they don’t fit.

Diana: They’re too big. They fall off.

Justin: Interesting. Interesting. Well, I still like traditional headphones. I think you get the best sound quality, too, and then with noise, you can get the great noise-canceling headphones that wrap around your ears. You know, all the kids these days have to have Beats, which is a company by Dr. Dre.

Diana: Yes. And they’re really…right.

Justin: And, you know, that’s all the rage, although they’re really not good universally for a lot of different kinds of music. They’re kind of really good for hip-hop and pop music.

Diana: And that’s, you know, the thing with your headphones. Really look and see what they’re for.

Justin: Absolutely.

Diana: Are they for music? Are they for radio? You know, what are they for?

Justin: Absolutely, and there’s noise-canceling, non-noise-canceling, you know, Bose has great noise-canceling solutions where you can’t hear anything around you, and that’s a beautiful thing. And, of course, these all have wireless solutions, too.

Diana: Yes.

Justin: There are wireless Beats, I know. There are wireless Bose. I mean, you have a Sennheiser?

Diana: Sennheiser.

Justin: Set of headphones that are wireless.

Diana: Yes, they’re wireless, and they’re the bigger kind and actually, they fit. They made them adjustable to my size, which is awesome.

Justin: That’s great.

Diana: But I really like them.

Justin: What’s the range for your wireless? I mean, I’m sure it varies.

Diana: It does. You know, you can spend lots of money and get them that will reach up to, you know…

Justin: But, like, in the ones that you use.

Diana: I think it’s 10-15 feet, pretty good reception. And the further away you go, then it tends to get a little bit less quality.

Justin: Sure. And so, of course, I was talking about the pain in the ears and that’s these earbuds, which for years, I mean, earbuds tend to fit nicely in my left ear but traditional earbuds in my right ear hurt.

Diana: Not so good.

Justin: Badly, and if I wear them for a little bit of time, I mean, it hurts, and then they pop out. It’s like my ear rejects them.

Diana: Oh, yeah.

Justin: It’s a angry ear. So, yeah, I’m not a fan of earbuds, typically. However, the new earbuds that Apple’s sending out, and I don’t know if they’re sending it. I’m not really sure. They came with my phone.

Diana: Yes.

Justin: My new, which is a 5C?

Diana: 5S.

Justin: 5S.

Diana: Now, your mom got a 5C recently, and also received the same headphones, I believe.

Justin: Right, okay, good. So, those 5’s are coming out with these new headphones now, or these new earbuds, which are great. They fit in beautifully.

Diana: Yes, they’re more ergonomically designed.

Justin: Right, right. And you can also go buy those. You can buy those.

Diana: Yes, I think they’re about 30 dollars.

Justin: Yeah, which is reasonable.

Diana: Yeah.

Justin: For something that isn’t a pain in your ear.

Diana: Well, and it comes with a remote right on the cord so you can adjust your volume up and down.

Justin: Right.

Diana: And it’s also a built-in microphone.

Justin: Sure.

Diana: For when you want to be talking hands-free on your device.

Justin: On your phone. Yeah, that’s excellent. So, there are some earbuds and, of course, then there are very expensive earbuds.

Diana: Sure.

Justin: I mean, in the 100-200 dollar range that are top notch, and also will give you, won’t give you a headache because they don’t fit your ear. So, yeah, it just depends. So, look around. If you want earbuds, you can find them.

Diana: Yes.

Justin: And there’s a whole bunch of other options, too, if you don’t want earbuds.

Diana: Oh, yeah.

Justin: But that just scratches the surface today on Tech Table. Until next time…

Diana: Take care.

Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at AskMPA.com.

Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.

Justin: And thanks for listening.

Jodie Atkinson

Designer & Video Specialist - Jodie is a mom to a very active three-year-old, Abbie, who keeps her hopping. A recent transplant to Southeast Iowa, Jodie and her family are enjoying the relaxed pace of living in a rural community. She joined our team from the hurry and scurry of the Des Moines metro area, where she worked at Gannett/Des Moines Register creating dozens of ads every day. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from UNI in Graphic Design and loves creating design that matters. Jodie’s mantra: “Be great. Create.”

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