Those are the over-the-ear ones I was talking about. (I look pretty dorky with my on-the-runway looking headphones) They DO touch the ear, though they don't crush it, which is why I'm usually good for a couple of hours.

> I don't think it's too unusual to find it uncomfortable to have stuff pressing onto/into your ear cartilage for hours a day.

The ubiquity of earbuds says otherwise. I'm genuinely jealous of people - they can listen more places, with less inconvenience, and with less expense. Still though, this is my flaw, not theirs.

>The ubiquity of earbuds says otherwise.

I never said that everyone was like this, but from what I see, it's usually young people wearing earbuds, and not necessarily for that long either. How many people do you see wearing earbuds for 8 hours straight?

I think if you were to take a poll of the general populace, you'd find that a significant fraction (probably even a majority) would be very unenthusiastic with the idea of wearing earbuds for 8 hours.

Any kind of headphone bothers me, even the ones which are large enough to not touch the ear itself. The only thing I can comfortably wear for longer periods of time is earbuds, but even so I don't like listening to music for long stretches of time. I prefer nothing in, or on, my ears and silence for getting shit done.