If you still think headphones are something you put on simply to listen to music, you may be living in the past.
The new Beats 360, launched today by the Apple-owned company, make a fairly convincing case that headphones are now part of how you outfit yourself.
They cost £299.95, come in four colours (Black, Cloud, Pink and Sky) and have interchangeable cushions on both the ear cups and the headband. Start mixing those around and Beats calculates that there are 256 possible combinations.
Apple/Beats. Interchangeable headphone parts aren’t entirely new. Master & Dynamic has offered replaceable ear pads, while AIAIAI has built an entire business around modular headphones.
Arguably the difference here is that Beats isn’t really selling modularity. It’s selling the possibility of changing your headphones in much the same way you might change your trainers, watch strap or sunglasses. All these are arguably impulse buy fashion items – and accordingly Beats is making a big thing of the (relatively) affordable price point.
That becomes even clearer when you consider where Beats expects people to wear them. In its pre-releases materials the company talks about the popularity of over-ear hea...