Tune the Outside World In with These Headphones

ThinkGeek has some interesting headphones for sale.  The Vibe Body Sound headphones are truly unique, in that they don't even go in your ears!  You might wonder how they work - well, it seems as though they clip on to your outer ear, and send vibrations through the bones in your skull to your inner ear, so you hear the music.  Your ear canal is never blocked, so rather than only hearing your music, you essentially hear background music to everything else going on (although I'm sure you can turn the volume up to a level that would make most clubs envious).

This is a pretty nifty design, if you ask me.  In Florida, where I live, it's actually illegal to drive or ride your bicycle wearing headphones (despite the fact that so many people do it anyway).  This is of course so you can hear what's going on around you and get out of the way of emergency vehicles and all that stuff.  The Vibe headphones are more akin to listening to the regular radio, in that the sounds around you are not disrupted or blocked.  Seems like a must-have for a cyclist.

Come to think of it, for those of us with really small ears, it might be the ticket to losing the ear pain of ear buds.  I just hope it gets loud enough to tune the rest of the world out - and doesn't slip off when you're running (all that pounding, you know).

Of course, there's something to be said for blocking out the world and losing yourself in your own music.  Sometimes you just have to be alone, even when you're in the thick of things.

The Vibe Body Sound headphones go for around $100 and you can get them at ThinkGeek.