My AirPods and I.

I decided to conduct an ethnographic study on myself, formally known as an Auto-Ethnographic study, with my AirPods.

What is an ethnographic study? Well, it is a research method to define the behaviors and interactivity with a human, and something else, in a specific environment. It may seem like an observational method, however to conduct a proper ethnographic study you need to also participate, along with observing the user’s interaction. By this I mean: perform the same habits the user is performing. Integrate yourself into their environment, and get a feel of what it’s genuinely like. But also, with observing, pay attention to seemingly insignificant details. Understand their mannerisms, their subconscious actions while interacting. I tried to use these methods on myself.

I purchased the AirPods Pro about 3–4 weeks after the shelter-in-place and social distancing orders were enforced. I was previously using over-ear headphones nearly all day, and to be frank, I wasn’t enjoying that experience. Although they are a pleasurable pair of headphones, I wanted something convenient, something smaller. Something that was as easy as putting in seemingly unnoticeable earplugs that featured high-quality audio.

I am an Apple fanatic. I know they’re expensive. But I had a $100 Apple gift card from a previous purchase sitting around. Also, I had the original Apple AirPods, however I irresponsibly lost them. I used them every day. We had a clingy relationship. It was heartbreaking when I realized I no longer had Airpods. I went back to the over-ears.

When I didn’t own a pair of AirPods, I began to notice the rapid ubiquity of people around the world having them. They aren’t cheap (relatively), and I started to question why so many people were comfortable and willing to pay a large amount of money to simply listen to music.

The Airpods Pro have provided simplicity to a significant part of my life. I listen to hours of music every day and I watch Youtube videos in my free time. It was a much needed acquisition to provide myself a better user experience. For the last 3–4 weeks, I’ve had an interesting experience with them. I’ve noticed myself interacting with it in a specific way, different from other devices. My interactive experience has been limited to being in my household, and I guess on my porch as well.

Unexpected Environmental Decisions

First things first, I had to rebuild the relationship I once had with them. By doing that, the first thing I wanted to do is ensure the longevity of owning them.

I noticed that I take extra care of them, or I try to. It’s probably a combination of their price tag along with my prior, unfortunate experience losing them. I try to devote extra attention. I’ve started to reflect on my behavior relative to taking care of my AirPods. I’ve noticed some of my habits.

Keeping them safe

I primarily use them while I’m in my room doing work. Before inserting into my ears, I always double-check on the cleanliness. I ensure they were kept clean when I last put them back in their case. I usually check if there’s anything on the ear tips that aren’t supposed to be in my ears. So far, I’ve been safe of that.

I’m not extremely confident nor reliant on the safety of the case. I don’t have a necessary dependence on my AirPods being protected while inside. Of course, while just sitting there, nothing should happen. But what if I drop the case? What if the case slipped off my desk? What if they fell out of my pockets? All very reasonable occurrences. Are my AirPods absolutely protected? I sense a vulnerability within the product. I don’t want to test drop them to see if they’ll survive. But for some reason I lack trust and reliability on the case. I don’t think they are as industrial-safe as they should be.

The case gets scratched extremely easily. I seriously haven’t dropped it once. Yet if I closely examine the material, I notice scratch marks. I assume this is normal, and gets scratched when rubbing against another hard material. Immediately after I noticed these marks, I started to place a tissue under the case.

I don’t question my behavior. Instead, I subconsciously have justifiable reasons in using this technique: I want to protect the case, which protects my AirPods. I want to refrain from damaging the case. I want to ensure that my AirPods are damage-safe, starting from protecting the case. I hold the case accountable to protect the AirPods when I’m not using them.

Unexpected Environmental Influences and Social Interactions

I had to remember a few contextual understandings. When should I be wearing my AirPods? Is there a time where I shouldn’t be wearing them? Why can’t I wear them in certain situations? These are all questions I had to consider.

Like previously mentioned, I primarily wear my AirPods while I am in my room doing work. But, the reason why I bought them wasn’t just for that purpose. It was to be able to walk around, talk to people, do other activities, all while they are conveniently in my ears. This was the idea I had while considering to purchase them. The ease of being able to listen to music, but also talk to people is very convenient, and it’s something I wanted for a long time.

When I didn’t own AirPods, and when I would be talking to other AirPod users, they were able to verbally interact with me with them in. I don’t know if they were playing music at the same time. But they were in. While they were in, it didn’t distract their social interactions. It didn’t disrupt their primary behaviors and activities. They didn’t need to take them off. Simply, they just had to hit pause. This is something I wanted.

Social Decision-Making

I don’t engage in much social interaction now because of COVID-19, however, I do have two siblings and two parents in my household. I’m in a unique cultural setting, where my decision making varies. When I talk to my siblings, I usually keep my AirPods in and either lower the music, turn off noise cancellation, or pause the music. But, I keep them in. I can talk to them and coherently understand what they are saying. It doesn’t disrupt our conversations. I feel comfortable having them in while with my siblings.

Now, when I talk to my parents, I never have my AirPods in. Even if I am in my room wearing my AirPods, I don’t consider lowering the music, turning off noise cancellation, or pausing the music. I take them out, and leave them on my desk, or back in the case. Do I consciously think about how my behavior varies per family member in the moment? No. But I do reflect on why I do so.

It’s interesting to reflect on these two relationships and how they differ. Why do I feel comfortable wearing my AirPods around my siblings, but not my parents? Is it a level of respect? Is it because I think my parents judge me, or look at me differently? These are things I consciously think about. I know my siblings won’t judge me, and even if they do, I don’t care. They do things that I can judge them on. In fact, they both have AirPods, and behave in similar fashions. My sister uses her hair to hide the fact that she is wearing her AirPods from my parents.

Overall Reflection

My experience and relationship with these AirPods is unique. I made that clear at the beginning. Ranging from how I take care of them, versus how I use them in my cultural setting, is interesting to reflect on. The reason why I and millions of people around world have bought them was purely for its all around convenient user experience. People can leave them in and have a conversation. They can work out with them in. Do work with them in. The physical engineering of them doesn’t prevent you from hearing the outside at all times, unless you enable noise cancellation, in which you can still slightly hear outside noise. Personally, the headphones have filled a void in my life. I’m much more satisfied using them. But my biggest fear is losing or breaking them. I wish I could have more trust and dependency on the case. I wish I didn’t have to use a tissue to prevent it from getting scratched. I wish they were fully protected while inside the case. These vulnerabilities have influenced my experience them.

I’m able to see the purpose of an ethnographic study and the significant impact in can make on revolutionizing technology. But, an auto-ethnographic study provides a different perspective, and enables researchers to locate another dimension of usability and user-interaction. This should be encouraged just as much as well.