Live data from Hacker News

Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

kevinrooke.com

151–160 of 696 posts

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#152
post #147
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am of course not debating that AirPods are successful. However, - If one random sales estimate is $6 billion and the other is $12 billion, it is clear that there isn't enough information out there, or something else is amiss. This isn't just a margin of error difference, and would completely change the graph in the parent article. - There is nothing useful to be taken away from comparing its sales numbers against a…

1) I don't know the estimates but I see it on the streets. Everyone and their dog has AirPods. I already have seen people with Pro version as well. I do not see people walking with their GoPros. If I go skiing I don't see people with their GoPro (people mostly just go skiing and then do some pictures with their phones from what I noticed), Chromecast I have seen some but not as many. There is no comparison. 2) There…

It’s already a meme on college campuses that you aren’t cool if you still have the ‘long stems’. I’d say pros are doing well.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#153
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget about first cool smartwatch.

The Pebble? Still no decent replacement for it.

I loved my Pebble, but it was certainly not cool. Also didn't work as well as my Apple Watch, which I waited until my beloved Pebble finally died before buying.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Always in ear What percentage of Airpods owners do you reckon _always_ have them inside their ears?

probably pretty high - apparently 17% of people in one survey said they have left them in during sex, so there's that

Primary source for the 17% number (although dubious considering it was 1,010 people online via Amazon's Mechanical Turk, and to qualify participants were required to be sexually active and enjoy listening to music):

https://www.tickpick.com/musics-influence-on-sexual-behavior...

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#155
post #125
post #40

Amazing how Apple managed to make the first cool MP3 player, then the first cool smartphone and now the first cool bluetooth headset. For almost 20 years now, Apple has owned electronic fashion. Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. And make no mistake about it - a huge portion of these sales are people buying Apple's marketing - not buying the tech itsel…

> Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. Actually the Walkman (which was arguably Sony's second breakout product, the first being a transistor radio) Sony was definitely the cool kid. And don't forget the Playstation or the Trinitron. In fact Steve Jobs explicitly emulated and admired Sony for their (then) sense of style, customer appeal and quality. The S…

It's odd that you say decay. IMO Sony's products are still quite good! I have a Sony-WM1A sitting next to me right now that's well-made, and I'm using Sony WF-1000MX3's as headphones, which are also well made. Not only that, but the Sony MDR-EX1000's that I own that are quite old are still buzzing. I can't quite say that for many Apple products I've purchased in the last decade.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#156
post #125
post #40

Amazing how Apple managed to make the first cool MP3 player, then the first cool smartphone and now the first cool bluetooth headset. For almost 20 years now, Apple has owned electronic fashion. Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. And make no mistake about it - a huge portion of these sales are people buying Apple's marketing - not buying the tech itsel…

> Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. Actually the Walkman (which was arguably Sony's second breakout product, the first being a transistor radio) Sony was definitely the cool kid. And don't forget the Playstation or the Trinitron. In fact Steve Jobs explicitly emulated and admired Sony for their (then) sense of style, customer appeal and quality. The S…

No doubt that Sony becoming a major media company has hurt their consumer electronics business.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about the marketing swaying people these days. People are going for the easiest devices to use that get out of the way and are high quality.

Which I guess would explain why there are Android phones that crush the iPhone on tech specs but make a minuscule (and sometimes negative) proportion of the industry’s profit?

crush is a strong word here, which Android phones would that be referring to? I got bored after they released the X, but at least up to and including that generation iPhones dominated benchmarks while at least being top 3 in photo quality.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Always in ear What percentage of Airpods owners do you reckon _always_ have them inside their ears?

probably pretty high - apparently 17% of people in one survey said they have left them in during sex, so there's that

You need to take them out every 2-4 hours for charging.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#159
post #45
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't differ from their other offerings... Their laptops and phones do not have replaceable batteries, why would their headphones?

Those batteries are replaceable, just not by you (officially anyway).

And for $49 each, Apple will replace the batteries in your airpods. (they probably just replace them)

If they aren't replaceable by you, they aren't replaceable.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#160
post #142
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. Sony WF-1000XM3 are a popular in-ear Bluetooth headphones with noise cancelling. 80 EUR cheaper than Apple Airpods Pro.

.. Which you rarely see stuck in people's ears. You do see those little white airpods everywhere though. People have them stuck in their ears even when they're not playing any audio.

1) Honestly, they look ugly (like toothbrushes), just like the white iPhone looked ugly.

2) There's a lot of copy cats who look akin to Apple Airpods because Apple is a premium brand.

Post reply on HN