People Wearing AirPods Are Making Things Awkward For Everyone Else

Alex Kantrowitz:

Unlike traditional headphones, AirPods are the kind of things you can keep in your ears at all times, and many people do. Their sleek design and lack of wires make it easy to forget they’re resting in your head. And their status symbol shine doesn’t exactly scream, “take me out.” This may be great for Apple and its bottom line, but it’s making life weird for people interacting with those wearing them. Are they listening to me? Are they listening to music? A podcast? Just hanging? It’s tough to know.

As someone who has been guilty of this since day one, I see this issue only getting "worse". Expect to see many, many people will AirPods always in, talking to other people with AirPods always in. I do wonder if keeping one in becomes more of a norm (I find myself doing this more and more).