My husband and I went to a delightful dinner party on Saturday night in honor of a long-time friend’s birthday. We were five couples in all and we discovered that we had more in common that we could have guessed. All five pair had a daughter graduate from high school in June and start college this month. And three out of ten of us had a birthday in the last few or next few days. I was one of them. My birthday was September 10.
I have always been VERY BAD at remembering the birthdays of others (sorry if I forgot yours). That’s why, when it comes to my own birthday, I have two traditions. The first is that I am quick to tell others it’s time to celebrate me. The second is that I allow that celebration to go on for an entire month. I call it my birthday season. I reserve the right to be toasted, taken out to lunch and remembered with cards for a full 30 days. In doing so, I also reserve the right to make a birthday call or deliver a gift any time during a friend or family member’s birth month and still fell like I got it right.
In case anyone is wondering, I have had a wonderful birthday season so far. My team has remembered me with a lunch and wonderful cards, presents and flowers spread out over almost a week. They really get the birthday season thing. My family celebrated me on Sunday with cards and presents like the Bose noise cancellation headphones I got from my husband. The new ones. The Quiet Comfort 3 headphones.
I love them.
I bring this up because I blogged about my Quiet Comfort 2 headphones in a February 2005 post called A Challenge To Bose. In this post I complained that their product was still just too big in spite of taking a step down from the size of the debut model. I talked about the clunky styling of their second-generation headphones and said the aesthetic didn’t hold up next to the streamlined iPod I connected them to while flying (you’ll see what I mean if you look to the left). I challenged Bose to do better with design.
They did.
Their third-generation Quiet Comfort headphones are clearly spawned of the existing best-seller, but the ear pieces are smaller to fit on, not over, the ears. This does not mean that any noise canceling properties have been lost. And the complete form, while not delicate, is certainly much lighter in both actual and visual weight (the new version is shown at left). I like the rechargeable battery feature, too—it’s a nice touch that is earth friendly.
Well done, Bose.
I travel a lot, and I am never without my Quiet Comfort headphones to protect my hearing and my solitude. I feel much better about using them now that the level of design has been raised. Now I need a new iPod to go with them…