For me it's at least 90% the shape. I absolutely cannot stand the normal earbuds that have rubber you shove into your ear canal. It's insanely uncomfortable to me, borderline painful even with the smallest tips I've found. So when I first saw the shape of the original Airpods it was like beams of light shined down and harps started playing. So there's tons of alternatives now, but the ones I can choose from is still slim picking.

[–] snowe@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah I hate the shape as well. The first apple earbuds (up until the most recent ones) are trash. I had to start wearing ear plugs to bed the past few years though so I've gotten way more used to stuff being in my ears. Still, earbuds suck.