Zagg Smart Buds broken almost after 3 years

I bought ZAGG Smart Buds for my iPhone 3GS back in August, 2010 and yesterday they broke. There is a loose connection in the left ear-bud. The loose connection is at the 3.5mm jack. When I wiggle the cable, the audio comes and goes. They worked well until now. I don't think they are the best sounding ear buds, but they were easy to keep wearing as they don't fall off thanks to the design. That is one of their marketing points. The other being that the wires are covered with material found in Invisible Shield (means that the cable doesn't get damaged.)

 

But somehow the wire going to the left ear got damaged. The outer coating isn't damaged. Of course I can still listen to the podcasts with audio coming out of just the right ear-bud. I'm not listening to audio anyways. Momentarily, you tend to forget that only the right ear-bud is working. I wonder if my left ear will go deaf if I listen to audio like this. Maybe I should get a new set of ear-buds.

 

But for the time being, I have to dig up my Sennheiser CX500s. No idea where I have kept them -  hopefully they are in the laptop carry bag. Should I get a new set of ear-buds? If I can do with the CX500's, I'll wait for the next iPhone and see if it comes with a decent design. Apple has been copying stuff from others and who are we to say they that they won't copy ZAGG's design?

 

Edit:

Oh dear! The CX500 ear-buds are not working anymore! I don’t know what is wrong with them. They are simply not working. Nothing is coming out of the ear-buds. Looks like I might have to order a new pair of ear-buds soon.