When I worked in the educational-software industry, I was issued a set of headphones so that I could test the audio portion of the software without disturbing other employees, some of whom were seated so close to me that if I stretched out my elbows, I'd bump into them. 
I hated headphones. They messed up my hair and made my ears sweat. And, let's face it, they looked really dorky. As soon as I got promoted out of "Cube City" and had a tiny office (without a door) to call my own, I got rid of the headphones and plugged in a set of speakers.
But with teenagers in the house who like to play video games and watch the same Youtube video ninety-seven times in a row and listen to music while they do their homework, I'm all about the headphones. In fact, I've hidden the speakers for our desktop PC. We keep our computer in a public area of the house for a reason: we want to know what the kids are doing when they're on the computer. But we don't want to have to listen to it.
Headphones do have their drawbacks, though--and I'm not just talking about sweaty ears and messy hair. When people are plugged in to headphones or earbuds, they're less likely to interact with others. They just exist in their own little worlds. A shared experience is a little less so when everyone sharing it is listening to a different soundtrack. And that's a shame.
But I'm still not putting the speakers back on the computer.
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