This weekend, I went to the city, and when I came back home, I couldn't find my headset for my iPhone. Since the headphones for the iPhone have the nice feature of a) being wired and b) having a microphone, and me fearing that I had lost the headset walking around Valencia, I started to look into alternative headsets. The replacement from Apple for the same headset that you received in the iPhone box is 29.00. Ouch. The Apple Store carries 10 other headsets. Of those headsets, 8 of them are Bluetooth wireless headsets, one is a headset/headphone adapter, and the other one is wired, but discontinued. Considering that the iPhone has only been out for 4 months, having a product be discontinued that quickly isn't a good sign. Headsets range from 29.00 (the Apple headset) all the way up to 349.00 for the almost-more-expensive-than-your-iPhone-and-probably-overpriced Bang and Olufsen Earset 2 (Right).
I've never liked Bluetooth headsets. Yes, it's wonderful that it's wireless, but isn't the whole point of having headsets to get away from all the potential radiation that's emitted by wireless devices? 29 dollars didn't seem so bad for a new pair of headphones, but the principle of the matter bothered me, because my experience with the iPhone headphones was that while they were okay, they didn't feel like they were $29 headphones. $9 maybe, $19 tops, and given the other options out there for a replacement, my choice of replacement became much harder.
Interestingly enough, Apple also sells the headphones that are bundled with the iPod for the same cost ($29), and I have several pairs of those owing to the different iPods I've purchased over the years, and the cost of those never quite added up either. Take for instance the iPod Shuffle -- $79 buys you a shuffle, a shuffle dock ($29), and headphones ($29). A quick calculation means that the iPod shuffle is worth approximately $21 -- less than either of the dock or the headphones. If you need extra accessories, you might as well purchase a new shuffle!
Luckily, I found my headset (caught on the seatbelt), and didn't have to think about it anymore, but it started me thinking along the lines of just how much stuff is packed into the iPhone box: iPhone USB Cable, Dock, Power Adapter ($49) and iPhone Headset ($29) - that's $78 dollars worth of accessories if you want an extra set or need a replacement.
My old Nokia, in contrast is stupidly cheap -- $5 for a wired headset, and $5 for a power adapter, online I can find it for half that much, and going to a retail cell phone store store I might be paying double that, but I can deal with that much if I lose something or a need a charger when I'm travelling -- but I find it amazing that they can get away with charging so much for items that probably only cost a few dollars to make in China. It almost makes me glad that the iPhone doesn't have replacement batteries -- how much would Apple charge for those?
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