Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing? • Hacker News Board

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

#181

Post by _trampeltier » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:43 PM UTC

kristianc wrote: post #129

gz5 wrote: 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…

> And make no mistake about it - a huge portion of these sales are people buying Apple's marketing - not buying the tech itself. By definition all of the businesses that survive are good at marketing - Apple has managed to drive extraordinary value through positioning and differentiation and left everyone else to compete over the collapsing middle market. Sony’s precise problem was underinvesting on positioning and b…

Sony's problem was never the hardware or the design. The problem was, special in the beginning of the MP3 / Smartphone age, they tryed to lock everything so hard with DRM (because other parts from Sony does sell Movies and Music). The even installed something like an trojan already very early in the MP3 market. So al lot of tech guys said "bye, bye Sony" when the market still was very young. I think they lost a lot because they had been so aggresive with there software in a such young market.

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

#182

Post by lowdose » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

gz5 wrote: 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…

If Apple can make the same leap from iPod to iPhone with these earbuds we are going to see a sweat new product range.

Jim Collins talked about his conversations with Steve Jobs at the end of the Knowledge project podcasts. He started talking to Steve after Steve got fired from Apple.

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

#183

Post by downerending » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

mastazi wrote: post #141

I can't wear any earphones for more than 5 minutes without them falling off, this is due to the morphology of my ears. I wonder: how large is the percentage of people with the same problem? Anecdotal, but I know personally at least a couple other people that can't wear earphones for the same reason. Note: I'm talking about earphones/earbuds exclusively, headphones are fine for obvious reasons. Also some types of earp…

True for me as well, but more importantly, the horrible audio quality literally causes me pain. Something to do with the poor frequency eq curve and limited range, I'm guessing.

(Plus, phones that leak audio seem rude in public places.)

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

#184

Post by ramses0 » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

Fnoord wrote: post #113

wuunderbar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget about first cool smartwatch.

The Pebble? Still no decent replacement for it.

1) always-on, sunlight-visible screen 2) week-long (plus) battery life 3) good, simple notification + calendar support 4) ecosystem of apps (developer mindshare)

Heart Rate, Sleep Tracking, Mic/Phone, Payments are all wonderful, but the drawbacks of "machine-learning-shake-to-wake", one-day battery life, and trying to fiddle with a tiny touch screen make the Apple watch less of a watch and more of "everything but a watch".

Long Live Pebble / Rest in Peace.

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

#185

Post by GuB-42 » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

jVinc wrote: post #162

gumby wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

OP wasn't saying walkman wasn't cool or have a significant market position, in fact he's saying the exact opposite. That Sony had the position an failed to use it to position new devices. Apple turned the iPod into the iPhone and iPad and now they have AirPods coming off of the same train using each product brand to push the brand of the next. Sony had the Walkman but missed the mp3-player market, didn't bring out a…

> didn't bring out a walkman phone

They actually did, the Sony Ericsson W800. But if you didn't know about that, it kinda proves your point, the branding wasn't a resounding success.

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

#186

Post by addicted » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

gz5 wrote: 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…

I strongly disagree about the fashion bit.

The iPod was better than any competitor it faced ever. The UI with the click wheel was completely unmatched. Maybe the Zune, years later, came close, but Apple absolutely crushed it with the iPhone and iPod touch.

The iPhone was leaps and bounds ahead of its time, to the point that the then King of the hill, BlackBerry, didn’t even think it was possible. And the smoothness of the UI was completely unmatched. The pocketPCs of the time were clunky messes. The iPhone’s UI was so far ahead that it’s now the default UI for every phone.

And finally, the AirPods are a far superior experience than the alternatives. In addition though, the AirPods are extremely competitively priced.

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

#187

Post by neighbour » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

jackhalford wrote: post #17

I have a pair of Airpods. What bugs me most is that le lithium battery is not replaceable, and will degrade after a couple years. which makes these a high-end throwaway device...

My AirPods, specifically the left one, cuts out after 5-10 minutes every time. Having purchased my AirPods mid-2017, I was pretty disappointed when I went to the Apple store and they said there was nothing they could do about it and I would have to buy a new pair.

Needless to say, I said no thanks. I'm about ready to throw these away and I'll probably buy a pair of Sony headphones this time.

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

#188

Post by joezydeco » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:45 PM UTC

jonny_eh wrote: post #158

maximente wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I've noticed a lot of people wearing just one, my kids included. They explained to me that by alternating earbuds they can wear them almost continually.

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

#189

Post by taurath » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:45 PM UTC

nathancahill wrote: post #88

mrguyorama wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chromecast is $35 and will play spotify and other apps pretty darn well.

They did a recent promo with Google where you get a free Google Home Mini if you're a subscriber. So I don't think they are getting in to hardware.

They have such economies of scale now, and such vertical integration that they can sell you things like speakers for free as long as it has voice integration and sucks up all of your data.

The only reason they don't sell a TV for $200 is they already get all that data from the current TV providers. Chromebooks at $99? Sure, why not.

And eventually nobody can compete. Users must be in google, or amazons ecosystem or be super rich to avoid it. Companies must hope that google or amazon never move into their space because they can be obliterated. This is a "kinder" version of what microsoft got anti-trusted for in the 90s.

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

#190

Post by _bxg1 » Tue, Jan 07, 2020, 10:46 PM UTC

Kylekramer wrote: post #22

I've idly thought that Spotify should get into hardware. Headphones and/or speaker, purchase it connected to your account, and one touch button to a stream of music you like. Obviously a million times easier said than done, but has to be a better margin business than where they currently are and would be good lock in.

The only way I could see that working is if they had a built-in cellular modem and the data usage was covered under your existing subscription. Just a direct-to-internet Spotify hose. Even then it would be a tough sell; single-purpose hardware rarely does well in a multi-purpose world.