What do you do to escape the hustle and bustle of society? Many of you would answer that, we get lost in our phones with good songs on and headset on. True or not? But do you know these things about noise-canceling earphones or headphones?
Who made headphones first?
French engineer Ernest Mercadier patented a set of in-ear headphones in 1891. It would be so light that it could be held on the user’s head while in use. Notably, they were very close to the earbuds used today. A rubber band was used to keep Mercadier’s headset looking comfortable. They were designed for headphone communication use. It had only one earpiece.
Invention of the modern headphone
Will you imagine that modern headphones were invented in the kitchen? Yes, Nathaniel Baldwin made the first modern headphones by hand in his kitchen. Those headphones were sold to the Navy as a piece of radio equipment. But since it was made in the kitchen, its production was very low. He could only make up to 10 headphones at a time. The Navy advised him to get out of the kitchen and work professionally. But he rejected it for some reason.
The headphones were not portable
In the 70s, headphones were used to listen to records at home. For that reason headphone portability was not a concern for headphone manufacturers. The weight of headset was around 1 to 2 kilograms at that time. When Sony released the Walkman, the demand for portable headphones increased.
Bose – GameChanger
Bose Corporation founder Dr. Amar Bose was going to Europe on a flight. He then used headset as part of the in-flight entertainment, however, he was very disappointed because he could also hear the loud air engine. That’s when he started thinking about such noise-canceling headphones. He had thought of this concept till the time the aircraft landed. By which Bose got a lot of fame.
Target the aviation industry
Noise-canceling headset were initially targeted for the aviation industry. In the 1980s, airlines began to reduce fuel consumption by reducing aircraft weight. So they decided to save by removing the insulation around the cockpit.
Bose’s success
This resulted in very loud noises inside the cockpit. Now, the concern was, it would damage crew members’ hearing in the long run. Bose’s noise-canceling prototype headset were used on one of those flights. And it was a huge success.
Bose introduced noise-canceling headphones to the market in 2000. After that, you all know how it became necessary in our daily life.
Read: Know these facts about your mobile phones
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