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AirPods are now available

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Re: AirPods are now available

#91

Post by throwanem »

JadeNB wrote: post #73
BryantD wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reviews I've heard of these and the Beats Solo3 (which use the same chip) indicate that the wireless connection on these is absolutely rock solid. This includes a very picky friend of mine who got a set of Solo3 headphones; he's blown away. I'd like to see the AirPods in the wild for a month or so before I totally believe this, but early indications are good.

I have used cheapo sub-$20 SoundBot headphones for almost a year and a half now, and have literally never had an issue with wireless connectivity. EDIT: Ah, throwanem ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13170546 ) points out the crucial difference between headphones and earbuds. For me, earbuds are undesireable, so I didn't realise that the form factor was meant to be a selling point.

Headphones or earbuds? The former have considerably more space in which to put an antenna that extends past the side of the wearer's head; earbuds have a pretty strict limitation in this regard, and indeed all the ones I've tried (ranging in price from about $10 to about $60) have at least occasionally dropped signal with the phone in my front trouser pocket on the same side as the earbud. For AirPods never to do so would be a significant differentiator in my experience.

Re: AirPods are now available

#92

Post by snegu »

The use case that I'm interested in is being able to have just one bud in my ear (to be able to hear what's going on around me) without the other one dangling. To me, that's worth the money.

Re: AirPods are now available

#93

Post by squeaky-clean »

CardenB wrote: post #70
skyyler wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it interesting that you use that quote as an example of naysaying. Within a few months of the iPod's introduction, they introduced higher storage options. Though the Classic line never got wireless, the HUGELY popular iPod touch had wireless. Both of his complaints were eventually rectified by Apple in the iPod line.

But the iPod was already a huge success despite those shortcomings. Apple seems to be good at figuring out which drawbacks are deal breakers and which ones are not.

Was it an immediate success? If these graphs are true [0,1,2], it looks like it took several years for it to really take off. It didn't really become a huge success until the end of 2004, the same year they increased storage capacity (for the second time), moved iPods to the click-wheel, and added the iPod mini. Also the iTunes music store was released in 2003, and added Windows support in late 2002.

"Apple’s total iPod sales climb past 10 million, with 8.2 million units sold in 2004 alone" [0]

[0] http://www.macworld.com/article/1053499/home-tech/ipodtimeli...

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/ipod-sales_n_468000...

[2] http://www.idownloadblog.com/2015/01/29/apple-stops-divulgin...

Re: AirPods are now available

#94

Post by plainOldText »

larrik wrote: post #81
plainOldText wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some of the things you hate about iOS 10? I've also disliked a few changes they've introduced, but after spending more time with the OS, I've discovered that some changes were not as bad as I'd initially considered. It was more a matter of getting used to. I guess people don't like changes to the things they've grown accustomed to.

Not the OP, but I hate the 2-page swipe-up screen. I can't get used to it. Having so much real estate dedicated to crap like AirPlay, AirDrop and NightShift makes zero sense to me. I'm not in love with "click to unlock" either, although the 7 makes it bearable with raise-to-wake (it's just stupid on my 6, though).

There's an option for the home button under "Accessibility" called "Rest finger to open". Turn that on, and you'll be able to unlock your phone with no clicks. It probably doesn't work for non Touch ID phones.

Re: AirPods are now available

#95

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

plainOldText wrote: post #63
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because... it IS a marketing page? As much as I've also become an apple hater recently because of what they've done to iOS10 and the new macbook pro, I think criticizing a marketing copy for being a marketing copy is not fair.

What are some of the things you hate about iOS 10? I've also disliked a few changes they've introduced, but after spending more time with the OS, I've discovered that some changes were not as bad as I'd initially considered. It was more a matter of getting used to. I guess people don't like changes to the things they've grown accustomed to.

> I guess people don't like changes to the things they've grown accustomed to.

Trust me I used to be one of those people who would say the same thing you're saying. I was like "What's the big deal? These people just don't like change. They'll get used to it."

Except that you don't anymore.

The reason I hate these changes is because things just don't work smoothly and disrupt your workflow, not to mention the UI being messy design-wise (I have NEVER complained about Apple's design changes ever since the first iPhone).

And this is all because of the new features they introduced they're trying to shove down user's throats. Most of these features are built to satisfy Apple's agenda instead of making it easier for users to use. Just read what others have already said, these are features built for Apple, not for users.

Re: AirPods are now available

#96

Post by jobu »

plainOldText wrote: post #63
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because... it IS a marketing page? As much as I've also become an apple hater recently because of what they've done to iOS10 and the new macbook pro, I think criticizing a marketing copy for being a marketing copy is not fair.

What are some of the things you hate about iOS 10? I've also disliked a few changes they've introduced, but after spending more time with the OS, I've discovered that some changes were not as bad as I'd initially considered. It was more a matter of getting used to. I guess people don't like changes to the things they've grown accustomed to.

There are a lot of small things that are making me hate iOS 10.

1) Unlock process: When the fingerprint reader fails it now takes several presses on the home key to get a keypad to pop up so I can input my code. With previous versions I could just swipe when I knew the fingerprint reader would fail (e.g. wet hands).

2) App updates: When apps are updating on my phone it decides it really wants to stay on the home screen. I can swipe to get to the other screens, but it goes back before I can tap any apps. Also, when I can get into an app they tend to lag and crash more when updates are happening in the background.

3) Control Center (bottom menu): Trying to slide the brightness or volume controls on the control center menus usually gets interpreted as a swipe to the next control menu. I have to be very precise when touching them for the sliders to actually work.

4) Safari: Auto-hide of the control buttons does help page visibility, but showing them seems to be glitchy as hell. They appear and then disappear before I can move my finger to tap them.

5) Crashes: At least daily now the whole phone crashes to a black screen and then comes back to the lock screen a few seconds later. Seems to involve location services.

Also, not exactly iOS 10, but the new Watch OS completely broke the usability of the Weather app for me. Something that was fairly intuitive and useful is now cumbersome and basically useless to me.

Re: AirPods are now available

#97

Post by throwanem »

FireBeyond wrote: post #53
AdamN wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Magical - they're beautiful in a way that is 'magical' Reinvent - well it certainly seems like a reinvention of the wireless headphone. What else would it be? Not possible before - without W1 it wasn't possible to jump between audio coming from multiple sources transparently

A re-invention. "We removed wires". Really? Not possible before - without W1 it wasn't possible to jump between audio coming from multiple sources transparently Uhh, I have a desk-based headset that can switch audio streams automatically. In any case, this: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12829190/apple-w1-chip-ipho... seems to suggest that it's a refinement on Bluetooth with the NFC pairing that, well, already exis…

> a Bluetooth world that frankly, hasn't existed in several years... "poor audio quality that skips and cuts out"

That's every day for me! What earbuds, stereo or mono, are you using that never have this problem?

Re: AirPods are now available

#98

Post by mikeash »

skyyler wrote: post #47
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #26

> "No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame." -- Slashdot creator CmdrTaco/Rob Malda about the iPod in 2001. I'm not saying these will have the impact of an iPod, but I am entertained by the amount of naysaying here. For one thing, how often have you fiddled with the knots in your headphone cord? It's frustrating enough to prevent me from using them in situations where I otherwise would.

I find it interesting that you use that quote as an example of naysaying. Within a few months of the iPod's introduction, they introduced higher storage options. Though the Classic line never got wireless, the HUGELY popular iPod touch had wireless. Both of his complaints were eventually rectified by Apple in the iPod line.

The iPod touch doesn't really belong here. It came out long after the iPod enjoyed massive success, and despite the name it wasn't really an iPod, but rather an iPhone without the phone parts. It's still called "iPod" but in terms of its functionality it's completely different.

Re: AirPods are now available

#99

Post by lewisl9029 »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #13
lolive wrote: post #9

Can we expect a better sound quality, when compared with actual earpods?

Apparently not. Which sucks, because I'd love better quality (dual drivers and all) earpod style headphones. I heard (kek) Amazon Premium has some decent ones, but they don't ship international.

Yes. I was actually fairly excited to see the Airpod announcement because it might inspire more companies to release wireless earbuds (that don't have to go inside your ear canal and block outside noise)...

There are plenty of cheap, great sounding earbuds out there (Head-Fi has a whole 1000+ page thread discussing them: http://www.head-fi.org/t/441400/earbuds-round-up), but literally none of them are wireless. Right now I'm resorting to hacks like using earbuds with removable cables and bluetooth cable replacements like these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Custom-Made-Wireless-Blu...

Re: AirPods are now available

#100

Post by fil_a_del_fee_a »

kefka wrote: post #75

This is very much the "Apple" style, and gave me a laugh. http://4dpavshx5ly3quwy2v9yv83i.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-c... Seriously, I have very little to add to this. It's overly expensive wireless earbuds to go alongside a failure of 3.5mm jack.

I had to stop and think... Concealed where?

:)

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