h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>I have a pair of Sennheiser headphones that enclose my ears.

Me too, although I used to use smaller phones inside industrial strength ear defenders, which blotted out the whole universe. A bit ridiculous for shopping, though.

I recently got a pair of those Dre ear bud things with my phone, they're very good.

I love my Sennheisers - I have the bud ones with the rubber stop thingies on the end so I can just wedge 'em in and tune out from real life. Ahhh, bliss....

I have clip on headphones/earphones, they re a cross between the two I s'pose, but the world is nothing when I wear them, it's great!

Lasses and lessers - please please please don´t use earbuds.
You won´t notice it right now, it will be a few decades before you do - but they can ruin your hearing, and incurably so.

What Pit said.

They are provably linked to hearing damage as they essentially force sound directly into the ear canal. There's also an as yet unproven link to neurological damage too.

And they cause sterility and the wearing of tin foil hats

I hadn't heard that about the ear buds, but I think the main problem with any headphones is that people turn them up way to loud. I have them at a volume that I can just hear them

One thing that really annoys me is when I've got my headphones on and I can still hear some nearby chav's iPod tinnily blasting out from his white earbuds.

The problem I have with in-ear earphones is that I can't vary the volume. I have had some with a volume control, but the sound quality wasn't very good. If I use over-ear headphones, I can just move them of my ears slightly if a track is too loud. (I have the volume turned as low as possible, but some tracks are still louder than others.)

Pardon?

PP

Bud earphones are fine as long as you are careful. Don't iPods come with a built-in volume limit?

Earbuds also cause the bacteria in your ear to multiply ridiculously quickly.

Portable music is proof that humankind has eliminated all major predators besides itself.

Dreadful, with ´buds you can easily have more than 120dB in your ear canal. Not

Exactly.

PHotD: people who say things like "you must've been watching a different film than I was" when they have a differing opinion of it. I may have been guilty of this myself in the past, but these days I try to remember that everyone is different and it's stupid to expect someone to (dis)like something just because I do.

"Different film"? Don´t people try to find knowledge by consulting books anymore? Wrong forum, this is a major HATE.

I'm a little confused now...

Whenn I'm waiting at a pedestrian crossing and have pressed the button for the lights to turn so I can cross, I get annoyed when someone else arrives to cross and also presses the button. Even if they're on the other side of the road, it's prefectly obvious I'm waiting to cross, not least becausethe button lights up.

I tend to press the button automatically because of the number of people I encounter who will quite happily stand at the crossing watching the cars go by without even looking at the button.

As a motorist, pedestrians who approach the crossing when there is little traffic around and no need to press the button. But press it anyway. Then cross whilst the 'man' is red because they can, leaving the motorist to be greeted by a red light and nobody wanting to cross the road.

As a pedestrian, the same thing.

PP