This is such an important message.

And a further word of warning about AirPods in specific: they’re the worst, and it’s by design.

I own a pair and I actually love it. They’re the worst because of a series of factors, not least of which the fact that they are so good:

1. AirPods sound great for the type of buds they are;
2. AirPods are magically convenient, and because of that people tend to use them more than they would use bulkier or wired options. I myself tended to just kinda leave them on just because. They’re so light, and it’s so easy to transition them from your phone to your computer to your tablet to your watch, that I used to keep them on for hours;
3. Since they don’t cover your larger ear and don’t have flexible tips that could insulate your smaller ear canal, they don’t block external noise for shit;
4. Due in no small part to Apple’s marketing, AirPods usage is associated with being out and about — which almost always means using it on busy streets, crowded public transportation, and noisy cafés.

The combination of all these factors makes the AirPods the most dangerous piece of sound equipment one can own today.

They’re as safe as anything else if you use them for limited periods and at reasonable volume, but, by design, they make it unprecedentedly easy to go overboard on both of these aspects.

The result? Now I have tinnitus and a 15% hearing loss, at 33. It sucks.

(I wrote a full article about this, if anyone’s interested. But it’s in Portuguese.)