Re: Compare to Apple's competitors...
Apple's new headphones have a few features that others don't have:
1. In addition to noise cancellation, they have a "transparency" mode which actually amplifies outside noise, so you can hear your environment exactly the same as without headphones. Recommended if you walk around with your headphones on in London and don't want to get flattened by some car, or if you are at work and want to hear your co-workers. Without anyone hearing your music.
2. They have an equaliser that (supposedly) checks out how the headphones fit around your ears and adjusts the sound optimally.
3. The head phones (supposedly) react to your head movements. So if you listened to music from an orchestra, located apparently in front of you, and you move your head to the right, the sound is changed so that orchestra doesn't swing around in front of you, but stays where it is.
That's the kind of stuff a computer maker can do that a manufacturer of audio equipment can't. Since I haven't tried any of these out, I cannot say at all if this works and if the headphones are worth their money, but sound quality isn't everything, and I wouldn't put it past Apple to create competive sound quality.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
