Don’t Let Headphone and Charge Cords Control Your Life

By Noah Davis

What do you do with your iPod's earbuds when you're not using them? Wind them around something in hopes that they won't get tangled?

What do you do with your cell phone’s sync cord? Stuff it into a carry-on pocket, hoping it won’t get knotted around your hairbrush?

And what do you do with your laptop’s plug? Stick it into your laptop case, knowing it will ultimately get caught on every other gizmo in there?

Of course, tangled, knotted and caught up with everything else is exactly how they end up, and you have to waste many minutes trying to de-tangle everything—if you even can. If this sounds familiar, we have found a few solutions (available at Cableorganizer.com), to help you make sense of your favorite toys’ add-ons.

The folks who created the earPod say that it was created by iPod users for iPod users. Well, I’m here to tell you that anyone who uses earbud-style headphones for any portable player will love the earPod. Closed, the earPod looks like a white plastic spool; however, one side of the spool rotates open to expose a compartment big enough to hold your earbuds.

You simply wrap your earbud cable around the earPod, snake the bodies of the earbuds into the center compartment, and then close the case. Your earbuds are neatly stored for travel. (Full disclosure: an earPod currently resides in my gym bag, taking care of my prized Etymotic 6i Isolator headphones, which have been tangle-free since purchasing the earPod.)

Another stylish answer, the Cableyoyo

, is also a must-have for any gadgets and gizmos junkie. Recently dubbed “the paperclip of the new millennium,” Cableyoyo offers true functional practicality as well as a minimal yet aesthetically balanced form, showing promise as the next hot desk accessory mainstay for the 21st century.

Cableyoyo efficiently stores up to 6 feet of cord on a single, flat plane, keeping wires manageable and out of the way. It is intended for stationary as well as mobile use as it can be mounted to any fixed location and is extremely light and compact for travel. Cableyoyo can easily hide behind desks, monitors, or file cabinets, but the sleek, streamlined design calls for placement in plain sight.

Charge cords, aren’t so dainty, however that they would necessarily fit neatly into the earPod or Cableyoyo. For this, there’s the effective and colorful Cable Turtle. They come in nine colors for the fashion conscious crowd, and two sizes—3 ½ inch and 2 ½ inch—for different lengths of wire. It’s simple and easy to use, simply unfold the thermoplastic rubber to expose the core, wind the cable around the center, and voila, you’ve done it. You’ve removed one more unsightly cable mess from your desktop or in your travel case.

You can use the Cable Turtle for different gauge wires, as well, including phone wire, CAT 5 cable, and troublesome sync cords, as well as electrical adapter wire. The small cable turtle organizer holds about 5.5 feet of U.S. two-prong wire. The large cable turtle organizer can hold about 3 cords, or longer lengths of single cable. Still, it’s as stylish as it is practical, and part of the Museum of Modern Art’s design collection.

All of the above items are inexpensive, ranging from $4.99 for the Cable Turtle and Cableyoyo to $9.99 for the earPod, and very easy to use. There’s no reason you need to fear your headphone or adapters anymore—simply get one of these and tame your wires.