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AirPods are now available

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Re: AirPods are now available

#371

Post by dosethree »

apsdsm wrote: post #352
erikpukinskis wrote: post #304

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

I don't think they see this as a music device either. I think they see it as a way of making money from their decision to remove the audio jack from the phone. That said, you're spot on with your forecasts of how great this could be, the AR of audio is potentially awesome.

I'm very interested in buying these and I have a headphone jack so I don't think it's purely a money thing, but obviously 159$ is quite expense (though so are most bluetooth earbuds that are likely not as nice as these in some ways)

Re: AirPods are now available

#372

Post by untog »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #304

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

Except this comes back to same problem most things do these days: battery life. You're going to need to return these to their case every few hours, so no one is going to wear them uninterrupted for a day.

Re: AirPods are now available

#373

Post by brian-armstrong »

kevinstubbs wrote: post #362
brian-armstrong wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to echo what others are saying. I don't see how you could possibly forget they're in. I've had issues with every Apple earbud design falling out when I lean over or even just move the wrong way. I'd be constantly worried these would fall out and be damaged. If anything, I'd be constantly reminded I'm wearing them.

Peoples' ears are all different. Apple's earbuds aren't comfortable for me, but they're the first choice for many people that I know. I can easily believe that the AirPods will be so comfortable that some subset of the population will forget they're in.

They don't work for either of us and yet Apple wants to force us into using them

Re: AirPods are now available

#374

Post by blhack »

Just a quick resources-share (since this is turning into a thread that is complaining about earpods): These headphones (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ELYQJI/ref=oh_aui_sear...) might be my favorite headphones EVER.

The sound is good (at least as good as I've ever heard from earbuds), they're cheap, but most importantly, they TWIST into your ears instead of simply pressing.

This emulates what you'll find in really high end, custom-fit earplugs.

They absolutely will not fall out unless you PULL them out.

Re: AirPods are now available

#375

Post by pj_mukh »

empath75 wrote: post #343
erikpukinskis wrote: post #304

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

Apple isn't going to be the first company that comes out with audio augmented reality or any new technology, really. Apple doesn't invent new product categories, and never really has. They wait for someone else to come out with an early, terrible version of something, see if there's a market for it, and then come out with a new take on it that doesn't suck. Where is the augmented reality device they're going to be ta…

Hololens, Google glasses, Couple of other uber-successful kickstarters[1] fully fit the bill of half-baked products with middling success that Apple can now supercharge. AirPods definitely seem like the start of an augmented reality strategy. Couple of different rumours indicate this [2][3]

[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vue/vue-your-everyday-s...

[2] http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/16/apple-augmented-reality-...

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-14/apple-sai...

Re: AirPods are now available

#376

Post by mesh »

giarc wrote: post #224
johnhenry wrote: post #213

I don't know the best place to say this... I'm always a little sad whenever Apple announces earphone related technology -- their earphones simply do not fit in my ear; they simply fall out. I wonder if anyone else has the same problem? Or problems with other specific pieces of technology?

I have the exact same problem. They just aren't a great fit. I walk my dogs every night for 1 hour and enjoy listening to podcasts during this time. I tried some Mopow bluetooth earbuds but they weren't any better. I'm considering some large headphones this holiday season. On a lighter note, I live in Canada so for 6 months of the year, my toque holds the Apple earbuds in my ears.

It might be worth trying in ear ear buds. I use etymotic ER6s

http://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones.html

which are in ear and noise blocking. They also have different size attachments so you can get a good fit, although they cause ear fatigue sometimes if you keep them in for extended periods (i.e. hour plus).

Re: AirPods are now available

#377

Post by drieddust »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #304

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

Leaving them in your ears all day might not be a good idea from health and hygiene perspective.

Re: AirPods are now available

#378

Post by anonred »

ishields wrote: post #170
seanwilson wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you can get bluetooth headphones that last 40 hours I don't see battery life as an issue. Quality sounds fine to me as well. Are there any blind tests that show people can notice differences with Bluetooth? Even if the difference is slightly noticeable I doubt you would notice wearing headphones on the move, at the gym, in the office etc. > How many times have you really found yourself genuinely bothered by wire…

Which is better, unlimited "battery" or a 40 hour battery? It may not be a big issue for you, but for me that's a very significant tradeoff. And I haven't looked into studies but I have personally done multiple side by side comparisons of the same headphones/speakers connected via bluetooth vs wired and have yet to find a set where I was not able to notice a difference in the sound quality. For me, that's enough, but…

I think an apt analogy for the transition towards wireless audio is that of desktop to mobile computing. In the same way that mobile isn't an end-all to desktop computing for professionals, wireless headphones aren't meant as a replacement for everyone, such as audiophiles.

That said, I've personally tried a half-dozen wireless headphones over the past few months. I strongly feel that the technology has progressed to where the tradeoffs of battery life and sound quality are minimal for the general consumer.

Right now, price is probably the limiting factor in adoption. However, as the price decreases over the next 3 years, I think you'll find that wireless will become the primary means of audio consumption for the average Joe.

Re: AirPods are now available

#379

Post by pwinnski »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #373
kevinstubbs wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Peoples' ears are all different. Apple's earbuds aren't comfortable for me, but they're the first choice for many people that I know. I can easily believe that the AirPods will be so comfortable that some subset of the population will forget they're in.

They don't work for either of us and yet Apple wants to force us into using them

I'm sorry, what? They want to... force you to spend $160? Huh?

Re: AirPods are now available

#380

Post by moolcool »

refulgentis wrote: post #347
derefr wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is standardizing on two cables. All of Apple's "accessories" (things that will request charge from a host over their cable: phones, tablets, keyboards and touchpads, and now headphones) have a Lightning port. All of Apple's "computers" (things that won't: computers that are wired for power, and devices that are wired for power like the Apple TV) have, or will have, USB-C ports. The vague middle case is laptops,…

Does that imply my USB C battery won't work with my new MacBook Pro? :(

I believe the switching from charging a device and charging your laptop is done in software. The spec allows any USB C device to charge any other in either direction AFAIK.
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