AirPods are now available • Hacker News Board

Re: AirPods are now available

#231

Post by x0x0 » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:32 PM UTC

swang wrote: post #210

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.

im using the previous version of ios 10 (one before current) and it has some weird battery draining bug and will shut off my iphone 6 plus at 30% and it's very hard to repower on without a charge source (e.g. ext charging battery). it also drains my battery heavily. the current version supposedly fixes the battery drain (not sure about the shutdown bug) but introduced a bug into another app that i use and don't want…

Yeah, Apple has turned into shit.

Brand new mbp on 10.11.6. Opening new tabs in safari then cmd-L to put focus in the location bar would beachball safari for multiple seconds.

The solution after much debugging was to disable com.apple.imklaunchagent

These lazy engineers really should be ashamed of themselves. This was an out of box install on a brand new laptop on their browser with minimal 3rd party software installed (chrome, brew, intellij, but nothing that should interfere with the os.) I wasted 5 free hours trying to make the damn browser work.

Re: AirPods are now available

#232

Post by RCortex » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:34 PM UTC

$160...for wireless earbuds + mic. I mean I have the money to throw away but...why. They look ok, kinda odd, but not like call center headsets at least.

You could buy a DS for that much right? That's about how much the ps2 slim costed back in the day.

Re: AirPods are now available

#233

Post by j_jochem » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:36 PM UTC

bhauer wrote: post #177

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you missed something but I guess this is why you guys are so angry about this. Because it IS an entry into a nascent market. Apple sees this as a new IO device, not a "pair of fucking headphones". Take a look at the specs

I can't speak for the other guys above, but I must have missed something. I am baffled why this particular set of wireless headphones has received as much press as it has. It seems so overblown that I have to wonder if people with iPhone 7s have actually been refusing to use existing wireless headphones because they are actually waiting for these. I've had a set of $25 Motorola wireless (Bluetooth) headphones that I…

From my experience, Bluetooth audio's sound quality is abysmal. I figure that's why an alternative system is getting so much hype.

Re: AirPods are now available

#234

Post by Insanity » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:37 PM UTC

debaserab2 wrote: post #171

j2bax wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually it is a bit more than "a pair of fucking headphones". As someone who spends a lot of time throughout the day listening to music, and finds Apple's Earpods to be some of the most comfortable nice sounding headphones I have owned, I'm rather excited about some innovation being done around this space. A few features that make them new/innovative: • Smart switching between multiple devices logged into iCloud. Yo…

Random question: is the earbud size and shape the same as old wired Apple earbuds? I've never been able to use the traditional wired Apple earbuds because my ear is too small and they start hurting after 5-10 mins of use.

A long long time ago, I loved the feel of the earphones. They came with one of the first gen if ipod.

Then at some point the design of the earphone changed and I had the same problem as you ever since:-( I was quite disappointed at the time

Re: AirPods are now available

#235

Post by Fnoord » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:37 PM UTC

HelloYComb wrote: post #23

jjuhl wrote: post #5

To me these seem pretty stupid. Major features (to me) of ear-buds with wires and 3.5" jack are: 1) being attached with wires means I don't easily lose them when they slip out of my ear/hand/pocket. 2) the 3.5" jack actually keeps them pretty solidly attached to my phone (again, less risk of losing them). Walking around with two loose tiny objects seems less than ideal - at least to me; I'd lose them within days.

Makes perfect sense to me. I run about 4 days a week with my phone strapped to my arm. The current headphones cable wraps around my arm once or twice, and sometimes gets tangled mid-run. It's a pet peeve of mine. Wireless is a good thing. I don't need more than 2 hours tops when running, so the 5+ hour battery life is great. I never had any problems with the current earphones slipping out of my ears while running - r…

I don't really see what these offer over say my Plantronics BackBeat Go 2 which lasts 4 hours. They're also connected to each other, going behind my neck. You may think that is a disadvantage, but I can easily have one in and one out if required. Besides, these Airpods don't solve the quality Bluetooth lacks. A disadvantage is you can already lose these easily (if disconnect both and keep hanging around). I don't even wanna think about Airpods and how easy they will be to lose.

Try putting your smartphone in a safe place, and have wired or wireless headset, and use some kind of smartwatch to control your phone and receive feedback on your performance. I use a Pebble 2 for that, but there's other alternatives available.

Bonus points is my phone is stored safely without saying to random strangers "rob me".

Re: AirPods are now available

#236

Post by MBCook » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:38 PM UTC

squeaky-clean wrote: post #93

CardenB wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 i…

It was an immediate success with Mac users. Some PC users tried to use them, I remember companies making combos of a FireWire PCI card and special software to try to use it. I almost did it myself.

The sales explosion really happened when they released it for Windows. All of a sudden a HUGE market was there and it snapped them up as fast as they could.

Re: AirPods are now available

#237

Post by jdc0589 » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:39 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #209

usaphp wrote: post #202

A lot of people here seem to be complaining about them falling out of their ears, while non of them actually tried to wear them first. Also everyone is stating things like this "I will use them two or three times during rush hours in London, bump into a couple people". But for me personally - I only use headphones while at my desk and I love current EarPods because unlike many other in-ear headphones they do not crea…

I guess this depends on your ears; I've never had a pair of in-ear phones that don't fall out after 5 minutes.

this is a ridiculous suggestion price wise, but check out custom IEMs. They are expensive as hell, but I have no issue spending money on something I use for HOURS every single day.

Sound quality is often much much better too.

Re: AirPods are now available

#238

Post by Karunamon » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:40 PM UTC

djrogers wrote: post #167

Scriptal wrote: post #131

Why did they not make the charging port USB C? I feel like a lot of this mess with needing a different dongle and special wire for each product would have been less of a big deal if everything they did just moved to USB C all at the same time. Now if you want to charge your air pods with a macbook pro you need a cable to go from usb C to thunderbolt (not included) or an adapter to use the previous-gen-usb to lighteni…

> Why did they not make the charging port USB C? Because there are about half a billion potential customers out there who already have phones that charge via lightning?

Since when has that ever bothered them?

There was the dock connector -> lightning connector switch.

There's the ADB -> USB switch back in the day.

And now there headphone jack -> wireless thing switch.

Apple cares not one whit for obsoleting the stuff you have.

Re: AirPods are now available

#239

Post by stonogo » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:42 PM UTC

nilkn wrote: post #205

hueving wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you seriously suggesting these are the first wireless headphones?

Honest question: can you point me to some other earbuds of the same size that are totally wireless (not even a bridging wire) and that also include a microphone, etc.? The AirPods honestly do seem like a somewhat unique entry into the market to me, but it's such a crowded market that I could have easily missed a competitor somewhere. That said, the lack of any sort of wiring is actually a negative to me, because that…

The Bragi Dash and the Samsung Gear Icon X both do this, and also include fitness tracking functionality. The Samsung ones can even be loaded with music and cache your fitness data so you don't need a phone with you.

Re: AirPods are now available

#240

Post by tribby » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 10:42 PM UTC

rstupek wrote: post #203

mgo wrote: post #44

I will not buy a phone without a 3.5" jack period. I'm not buying ridiculously expensive wireless headphones that are objectively worse (worse quality than wired alternatives, added hassle of charging them plus much more expensive).

I will not buy a computer without a 5" floppy drive. I will not buy a computer without a 3.5" floppy drive. I will not buy a computer without a CD drive etc. Seems Apple is just always ahead of the crowd in getting rid of things.

this is a false analogy. the CD drive was an improvement on the 3.5" floppy. the 3.5" floppy was an improvement on the 5" floppy. bluetooth is an improvement in form (no more wires), but a downgrade in function as the audio quality is diminished.