Shocking

Depending on what kind of task I'm doing, I'll often listen to my iPod at work. With my old iPod earbuds, I would hear a crackling in the earpieces from static electricity when rearranging myself in my chair. The new earbuds that came with my iPhone are comfier, and also do not have any audible crackle from static. But I have found that every once in a while, I'll move in my chair and simultaneously get a shock in my ear. It's not a big shock, but since it's in my ear it makes me wince. What I assume is going on is that the new earbuds don't conduct static charges away from me as well as the old ones. Apparently the conducting part is just close enough to my skin that when I build up a large enough charge, a spark flies and I get zapped in the ear...