Headphones are miniaturized loudspeakers that fit over your ears for private listening. Initially they were very clunky and uncomfortable. Imagine banding two mini speakers together and then laying the band over the top of your head.

There was no ergonomic design, no cushioning and often it was just bear metal touching your skin. Needless to say you wouldn't want to keep them on for very long.

They work just like regular loudspeakers do. An electric current is sent to a copper coil in the headphones which then vibrates a simple plastic membrane. The membrane basically pounds the air and creates sound waves. So it is with Headphones.

Headphones have their roots in radio and telephone technology and have been around since their inception. The reason for this is because the electrical current was too weak to be projected from a traditional loudspeaker so they created something that could project the sound waves directly to the ear. Beyerdynamic is thought to have officially invented headphones in the 1930's, and in fact they were the first to market headphones to the public.

John Koss (namesake of the Koss company we all know) was the first to introduce headphones that truly allowed the listener to enjoy music. The speakers in the headphones offered a full range of frequencies.

When Koss and Martin Lange were trying to market a portable phonograph they stumbled upon the idea of creating stereophones and almost by accident created a company out of it. Koss only had a high school education too.

Since that time the proliferation of headphones has grown exponentially throughout the world. What was at one time a technology reserved only for people in communications positions is now available to all both the very elderly and the very young.

As soon as Koss made headphones available for use in listening to music the high end  studios caught on and began to use them as a way to aid in the production. Koss was able get endorsement with major pop stars this way as well.

In the 80's headphones were finally getting more mainstream however they were still large and clunky and often uncomfortable for any extended period of time.

As technology has improved headphones have gotten smaller and smaller. From sports headphones that fit snugly in your ears to the smallest ear-canalphones that fit very much like ear plugs there is no doubt that headphones have become very refined in out high tech world.

There have been many good things that have come from the invention of headphones. First and foremost is the ability to listen to music in peace and quiet so that the listener can enjoy their music with little to no interruption and those around him can go about their activities without any interruption from noisy speakers. In many ways headphones can also be said to have avoided many arguments and family scuffles for the same reason.

There are a few naysayers out there though who cite that headphones as a cause for less family time and more isolation from people and the real world. Many psychologists believe that such technology induced isolation have been the cause of many tragedy's like The Columbine shootings.

Either way technology advances at a rapid pace and continues to mesmerize the world with new miraculous inventions. Who know what will come next?