I have to admit that even after I realized they didn't sound that good, I still wanted them. I mean, coming from my MDR-V700DJ, which are horrible for critical listening (or any listening that does not involve the DJ environment of cueing and loud monitors), I figured that I'd live with their shortcomings because they're really cool and give pop music a certain oomph. To be honest, I even went so far as to defend this idea to people when I said I was considering buying them despite having better headphones. I even thought I would DJ with them, and incorporate a headphone into my image that was not from the turn of the century.
Granted, this is before I started seeing them everywhere. When they came to market I do believe that for a while they remained an item for the discerning stylish few. I remember that in the beginning I would only see them on particularly stylish people. We see how long that lasted. They are now the flagship headphone of the brainless, and that much is true despite whatever counterexamples may exist.
And here I am again, weighing in within another Beats thread. Ugh.
