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Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

kevinrooke.com

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

#271

Post by sneakernets »

alfonsodev wrote: post #178
femiagbabiaka wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

When did Sony stop naming things the simple way (Walkman, Vaio...) and started naming stuff like that (WF-100MX3 and the like). Im saying this as half joke only :D

They've always named things this way. It was once cool to have stuff like "WF-100MX3" because it reflected the kitsch of the space age.

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

#273

Post by saagarjha »

krick wrote: post #228
MBCook wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you used them? They’re ridiculously low friction. Stick them in your ears and they’re on and paired and ready. Take them out and they’re off. Store them and they’re charging. Trivial to swap them between Apple devices, easy to pair the first time. And they sound great considering their size. They’re little magic gizmos that make me (and millions of others) happy because they work so well.

Come on, they sound terrible compared to other true-wireless earbuds in the same price range. And to be turned on/off automatically is absolutely standard even for cheaper earbuds. The only thing that is true specifically for AirPods is swapping between Apple devices.

What products do you think compete with it?

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

#274

Post by scarejunba »

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…

Amusingly the Sony WH-1000XM3 are absolutely superlative noise-cancelling over-the-head headphones. They're really a damned good product. But lots of Sony stuff seems driven by random PMs being good at stuff but not being able to make it part of the culture or something.

They also seem technology-driven.

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

#275

Post by joezydeco »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #233
joezydeco wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This sounds like the plot to a Dystopian tech movie. Something always in your ear... whispering.

We're only getting warmed up. Wait until they're invisible, or implanted in your skull.

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

#276

Post by paxys »

013a wrote: post #170
paxys wrote: 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…

I would find an estimate like "AirPods make more money than Spotify" interesting; its a sort-of poetic "the hardware you use to listen to the music is worth more than the music itself", at least in a limited scope (of course, the entire audio hardware industry is larger than Spotify, but is the entire audio hareware industry larger than the entire music recording industry? idk).

It tells you that one hardware product is worth more than one streaming service. Hard to draw any conclusions about the music business as a whole.

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

#277

Post by peterwwillis »

Several brands' true wireless earbuds have been rated as just as good or better than Airpods, such as the Jabra Elite 65t and Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2, for significantly less ($100 and under). Newer models (that are also cheaper) beat the AirPods Pro on every metric. I can't see how Airpods will continue to be a market leader if their competitors continue this trend; it'll end up like Android, where some people will pay a premium for a brand, and everyone else will pay less for a competitor.

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

#278

Post by ctdonath »

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…

As a Sony ex-fanboi: another fail was the painful bare achievement of stated specs. Sure product did X, but did so relying on weird tech stacks, or not X.00001, or cut corners in presumed but not actually stated specs. Result was that when pushed to a reasonable limit, it often either hit a brick wall or fell off a cliff, to painful results.

Variant: UI is all too often painful. Extra steps, easy invocation of dangerous mistakes.

Finally, the sense of abandonment. You bought it, WTF do you think you are - you want updates for years, or compatibility with other devices?

Vs...

Apple doesn't give much re: specs because they're mostly irrelevant in use. UI is nuanced. And everything is built to keep you smoothly progressing deeper into the ecosystem.

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

#280

Post by freepor »

Fnoord wrote: post #243
addicted wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 o…

My iRiver H340 was ahead of its time. It supported MP3 and Ogg Vorbis and had 40 GB, while the iPods of around that time were running around with 4 GB. Oh, and iTunes DRM. I bought an iPod Classic later on (with 160 GB) to experience the genius usability of the iPod. Except, I didn't experience it. The major innovation of the iPhone was that it had a capacitive touch UI (which allows finger use, gestures, etc). The i…

I had a Nokia N95 when I first used an iPhone. It was clear within 5 minutes of using the iPhone that regardless of specs the iPhone was a vastly better experience. That’s how Apple defines “best” and the market has demonstrated that a huge chunk of the market agrees with them and will pay the price for it.
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