Wooden Earbuds -- Really

I wonder if it's just for looks? A company called Skull Candy is making earbuds that are made primarily of wood. Does the wood make the music sound better? UrbanOutfitters.com sells the wooden earbuds. They say:

Carved real wood earbuds, with laser-cut aluminum accents - a serious (and eco-friendly) upgrade from you're your standard-issue white plastic buds. Rich, detailed, full-range sound from 8mm drivers, with comfortable rubber surrounds for a perfect fit.

Well, if the wood is improving the sound, it's hard to tell from that. But as I think about it, I guess I don't really care. They look terrific and that's good enough for me. Maybe not $100 good enough, but still, they do come in a laser etched wood box.

[Thanks to BoingBoingGadgets]

Designer Firewood

As readers of this blog know, I enjoy just about everything that's made of wood, and typically appreciate the more unusual applications. But I think I found the limit to my appreciation. Boing Boing Gadgets featured a piece this week about a Berlin-based artist, Nicolas Fischer, who created a sculpture of the world's gross domestic product with the worlds derivatives volume as a statistical map cnc-milled in wood. Kind of a neat idea. But when the result is that ugly, there's only one place for that sculpture: the fireplace! What am I not seeing here? Click image for larger view, or better yet, don't.