One of my favorite AirPod features is that I can easily hear ambient sound. I walk along listening to podcasts. When I want to stop and talk with someone, I turn off the audio and have a perfectly normal conversation with the AirPods still in my ears. When the conversation is done I turn on the audio again and continue on my way.
This very aspect of AirPod design is infuriating to audiophiles, who want something that completely blocks out ambient noise. Or it used to; I think people are starting to understand that these are two different categories of devices. If you want something that ambient sound, you don’t want AirPods. That is not a failure of AirPod design; it is AirPods doing what they are designed to do.
I’ve worn my hair nearly nonexistent since 2001. I guess I was just getting ready for AirPods to be invented!