When I heard that Apple had filed a patent for a new AirPods case featuring an interactive display, I admit to letting out an audible snort of derision. “Oh for goodness sake, another pointless gimmick from the same company that gave us the Butterfly Keyboard and iPod Socks,” I bemoaned in my own head. “What a pointless innovation. At least they’re not actually going to make it. That’ll never catch on.” The idea of Apple going ahead and manufacturing what seemed like a redundant audio accessory merely seemed like a waste of time and resources.
It was a few moments later, of course, that I realised that not only had American audio manufacturer JBL beaten its Apple rivals to the patent punch, but it had also gone one step further and really made the flipping thing. Yes, JBL’s new Tour Pro 2 wireless earbuds became the first to sport a charging case with a fully interactive touchscreen display, taking an idea that seemed like a ludicrous pipe dream and rendering it in three-dimensional scratch-proof plastic. We’ve had the pleasure of having the JBL Tour Pro 2 in our What Hi-Fi? offices for a while now, and the same question always pops in whenever I stare at that novel charging case: “Why”?
