Beats Audio by Dr. Dre is a great example of style and brand can trump product details. Of course quality matters even in the headphones business, but the opinion of audiophiles regarding sound quality isn’t going to impact 15-year-old kids on what they determine to be cool.

The cool factor propelled the Beats brand and ultimately made Dr. Dre a billionaire with Apple’s acquisition of his company. This is a perfect compliment to iTunes and the iPhone, but it will be interesting to see if Apple applies some of its billions to also improve the quality of the product.