The history of headphones

Over the span of 100 years, earpieces went from being the only way to listen to electromagnetic audio signals to, wireless smart earphones that can download music and answer cell phone calls.

Nathaniel Baldwin created the first pair of modern headphones in 1910, which he made in his kitchen and later sold to the U.S. Navy.

Beyerdynamic DT 48 began production in Germany around 1937 and are still in production to this day. These were the first Dynamic headphones of our age. Dynamic headphones have two small speakers, and send a signal through a connection to the jack. “Once the electrical signal reaches the earphones, a magnet forces a voice coil to vibrate rapidly inside a diaphragm — a paper, fibrous or plastic cone-shaped object.”

The first stereo type headphones were invented by John C Koss in 1958 which were a huge success in the United States. His brand of headphones is still being produced today, having a huge impact for products in the future. In 1968, Koss’s ESP/6 were released as the world's first self-energizing electrostatic headphones, this specific pair of headphones were lighter than any before.

In 1979, Sony released the walkman. This granted people the ability to listen to music on the go, and the idea of portability impacted the creation of later headphones greatly. Portable headphones reached their peak in 2001, when Apple released their first generation of the iPod. Although Apple didn't invent the earbud, their iPod popularized the product, and they still continue to be sold to this day, known as “earpods.” It is extremely common to see someone everyday, with the white wire that goes from their ears into their pockets.

The 21st century of headphones takes a more stylish approach to selling headphones. In 2003, Rick Alden founded Skullcandy, which are headphones that have vibrant designs. This changed headphones in a sense of making them more of a fashion trend. Five years later Beats by Dr. Dre was released, then one year later Heartbeats by Lady Gaga was released. Headphones in the 21st century focus their design around fashion and celebrities.

Currently, the world's first wireless, smart pair of earbuds are being developed and is actually up for preorder. They are known as The Dash, which are being created by a company known as Bragi, and designed in Germany. Not only are they smart earbuds and wireless, they can also handle phone calls. The Dash can hold up to 1000 songs of storage with a total of 4GB of storage, they also comes with a wireless charging case that can charge The Dash up to five times.

Modern technology took headphones to great heights and the functionalities of them have improved over the course of 100 years.