The iPhone earbuds have several really useful features. That piece of grey plastic with the microphone also includes a clicker, which can be used for several different purposes:
- sending calls directly to voicemail (squeeze the clicker for 2 seconds)
- during video playback, pinch the clicker once to skip to bring up the controller and pause the video, click again to resume playing -- note: you can also tap the screen to bring up the controller, without stopping the playback
- during video playback, pinch the clicker twice to skip to the next chapter
- these Pause and Next functions are also available with song and Audio Podcast.
On both my 3rd generation and 5th generation iPods, I found the Apple earbuds to be uncomfortable and clunky. One of our grad students recommended the Sony noise-cancelling earphones for $49. I found them to be an excellent replacement, especially riding the bus to & from campus, listening to Podcasts!
Without some additional help, however, I can't use the Sony earbuds in my iPhone, since the plug is different. It now includes audio for the phone, and it's slightly recessed. Both Griffin and Belkin make an adapter to use your old earphones. Search on "iphone earphone adapter" for latest models and pricing.