Really stupid technology

$500? For headphones?! Picture: Not the Shure E500PTH...

PC World has just published a list of The 20 Most Innovative Products of the Year...

At number 20, the Shure E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones (a mere $500, no, that's not a misprint). PC World says the "in-ear, sound-isolating headphones nestle themselves in your ear canal and block 20 dB of outside noise, leaving you with a remarkably quiet listening environment even on a crowded bus or plane. Though that's great for listening to music, it can be a pain if you have to talk to someone for a bit".

I mean, having to talk to someone, why, that's a pain in itself!

However, thanks to technology, Shure has come up with "a unique way around the problem by embedding a small microphone in the cord. Flick a switch on the Push To Hear module, and the outside world is piped in through the headphones -- you have no need to remove them from your ears" (my italics).

Thanks to technology, we can now overcome even common courtesy...

Of course, as with all technology, whether we're using it on a plane or in the classroom, it's not the technology itself that's stupid, it's the use we make of it...