Yes, I know, the AirPods are just a new kind of wireless Bluetooth headset, and those are nothing new. But that gadget has always been a mixed bag. Whether or not the characterization was ever fair, the Bluetooth headset was the accoutrement of smarmy business men talking loud on the phone in inappropriate places. The black truncheon attached to their ears became hitched to its associated discourtesy. Meanwhile, Bluetooth audio headphones remained a luxury item, one mostly used by international travelers and audiophiles.

The AirPods free you from the earbud cable without requiring the bulk of headphones. Feeling that sensation made me shiver to realize how yoked I had really been to the smartphone. Not just by the compulsion of use, but in the physical connection to it by thin, white wire. The AirPods retain the familiar color and shape for which Apple has been known, so it really does feel the same, minus the cord. This small change could have a profound effect.

The AirPods feature many deft design choices. The case charges the buds, which magnetically attach inside to prevent loss. When you place one in an ear, a sensor detects the action, and pairs audibly. The same sensor allows the device to pause music or movies when you remove an AirPod bud, perhaps to listen to someone in the room. These are slick features that offer some nostalgia for an age of it-just-works Apple design that otherwise feels long past.

But features tend to distract people in the present from the implications of technology in the future. After an hour with the AirPods in, listening to music and making a few calls while working, I lose the sensation that they occupy my auricle anymore. But unlike the corded buds, there’s no need to untether myself from the phone when I get up to do something else. I’m in the kitchen making a coffee. Then I’m outside getting the mail. I might or might not be listening to music or talking on the phone, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I could be, at any time, and without impediment. I could also pose requests to or initiate tasks to Siri. I am connected to the phone, and therefore the world, without being tethered to it directly.

This makes the AirPods more than just a wireless headset; it puts the device squarely in the domain of voice assistants and devices, like Amazon Echo and Google Assistant. Even as augmented and virtual reality promise to immerse users in space and information, speech offers a simpler answer that is no less science-fictional: Being able to talk at a computer and have it respond. Echo does so in the room, Siri on your phone, and AirPods right inside your skull.

The AirPods do look a little ridiculous. White sprouts hang down an inch below the ears where the cords would attach. Those with longer hair, like me, can obscure them partially, at least, for the time being. But eventually it won’t matter, as people will get used to everyone having wireless buds stuck in their heads. Not like they’re used to wired earbuds, in the train or on the sidewalk or at the dog park. No, more like they’re used to people staring at phones all the time, anywhere. The earbuds won’t disappear, just like the smartphones haven’t. But they will become invisible as they become ubiquitous. Human focus, already ambiguously cleft between world and screen, will become split again, even when maintaining eye contact.