Is Apple About to Shuffle the Headphone Industry Again?

Is Apple (AAPL) in the process of reinventing the way mainstream headphones are designed for the second time this decade?

Ten years ago, I was the only guy on the train wearing earbuds. Thanks to Apple’s iPod, now everyone is. Is the remote control clicky-thing the next thing every set of earphones has to have?

Apple has been shipping earbuds with built-in microphones and in-line remote controls since the iPhone went on sale in June, 2007. But they’ve increasingly become useful with other Apple products. The new iPod touch and iPod nano, released last fall, respond to the remote control to play and pause tracks, and can access the microphone. New Mac laptops do, too.

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