Earbud Jack is a cute version of a headphone wrap made by a company called What If Widgets. He's a durable piece of thin plastic that's about 3 inches tall and his sole purpose in life is to prevent your earbuds from getting tangled up when not in use. What a great idea. Headphone wraps are always useful and and a little 'man shape' to organize the cables sounds cute right?

Requirements:

• a pair of earbuds
• patience

When I first received this gizmo as a gift from a friend I was totally psyched. What a great idea I thought - since I am always struggling to untangle my earbud headphones. I put them everywhere from in my pocket, to my backpack, to the car glove compartment. Many times in the car they tangle with other devices like my cellular hands free head phones, as well as the mobile phone and iPod charger... not to mention all the other "stuff" that gets tossed in there.

Well, unfortunately it was downhill from the beginning. I was all excited to use the "earbud Jack" so I could move into the world of organization. I pulled out my Coby earbuds and started wrapping the wire around and realized... ugh this is not going to work. My unit has a volume module integrated into the cable that does not fit Jack's wrapping procedure. STRIKE 1.

Oh well. I can't use my Coby earbuds. No problem. I have another pair. So I pull out my Etymotic ERGI Isolator earbuds and... ugh again. This time the earbuds are smaller than "Jack's" shoulder rest and did not create a snug fit. They just fell out when you tried to wrap the wire around. STRIKE 2.

Alright, 3rd time is a charm I told myself. I went digging around and found my original iPod Nano earbuds. Finally. The standard Apple iPod earbuds fit snug into Jack's shoulder holder. One they were secure, I begin wrapping the cables until I realized that the cord is much too long for the wrap configuration. Another failed attempt. STRIKE 3.

Even if the cord were shorter and wrapped around perfect to size,the time it takes to wrap is more of an inconvenient step than just untangling. At the end of the day, Jack's wrapping task was just too clumsy and too challenging for what seemed a really simple and novel idea.

Who knows, maybe it was just me. So I asked everyone around my office to give Jack a try. But Jack was really not helpful. I've since given away my Jack for someone else to try. And now I'm back to wrapping my earbuds around my iPod Nano.

Here's a video clip of me trying to use the Jack:

What seemed like a great idea at first proved to be a fumbling hassle.

This item is available for purchase from What If Widgets. What if widgets strives to improve peoples’ lives by solving everyday problems with clever and fun products. For more information, check out: http://www.WhatIfWidgets.com Rating: Requirements: Headphone or earphone cables Manufacturer: What If Widgets