A Tangled Mess
We are constantly chasing our tails when it comes to culture and fashion. The masses decide what's in, then we decide it's out, and then in again. The second time around we just call it vintage. You’ve seen it a million times over, from Jordans to disposable cameras to vinyl. It's the way culture is wired. A good mix of classic and modern. The things you hate today, you’ll love tomorrow.
Wired earbuds are our next example. The tangled mess was invented as a form of telecommunication in the 80s. They quickly hit the mainstream population for everyday use and never looked back. They remained the only way to jam out individually for more than 30 years.
In 2015 everything would change as Bluetooth tech, originally used for phone calls, was adapted into fully wireless earbuds. Using low-power radio waves to transmit information from one device to the next, Bluetooth cut the cord on the industry. The culture substantially shifted in late 2016 with Apple releasing their first generation AirPod. Same as today, if Apple's doing it, so are the masses.
It's only right that 10 years after killing the wired look, the same company would help resurrect it. In 2020 Apple stopped including wired earbuds with a purchase of your new iPhone, one could easily assume this was to drive their AirPod sales. In the few years to follow the wired vintage look was born. People were digging the ball of wire out of shoe boxes and junk drawers. Apple quickly responded by creating a wired USB-C adapter earbud, compatible with their newest iPhones.
So the trend is back, the trillion dollar tech company sells a $20 wired earbud, the culture approves, but is it really just for style?
We’ve seen hundreds of professional athletes with the wired look lately and some of them fall into the fashion category, but not all. Others suggest that they’re harder to misplace, or you never have to charge them. Some say better sound quality, but a reason that is claimed by few and speculated by most is health related.
The science behind our favorite wireless earbuds might be doing more harm than we think. Bluetooth uses short-range UHFs, Ultra High Frequencies. UHFs are a form of radiation. There are obviously varying levels of radiation, but exposure is exposure at the very least.
Though Bluetooth has been considered safe for consumers for the last 50 years, people are still opting out. Athletes along with everyday people are taking steps to limit their exposure to the Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), a main one being not putting earbuds inches from their brain.
The FDA regulates radiation-emitting medical devices, and stands firm that there is little to no evidence that suggests low-level UHFs cause any health problems. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that Bluetooth technology poses no threat to human health. The FCC regulates the maximum frequencies our everyday devices can emit and they too stand firm that Bluetooth is safe for consumers. So if the federal Food and Drug Administration, alongside the World Health Organization, and the Federal Communication Commission says it's safe it's gotta be, right?
In 2015 a group of 190 independent EMF scientists representing more than 30 countries filed an appeal to the WHO and the United Nations. Their core argument was that the current EMF safety regulations were dangerously outdated. The group stated that the current laws only protect humans from thermal effects and not other concerns such as structural DNA damage and reproductive issues. Since then an additional 50 independent EMF scientists have signed the appeal from more than 40 countries. Even though this appeal happened almost 11 years ago, no hard safety limit has been changed and we’re still operating on a framework that was established in the mid 1990s.
Science is moving forward and the regulations aren't. Everyone is quietly making a decision on their outfit or how to protect what's between their ears.
