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Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

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

#311

Post by usertrjx »

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…

I have the same problem with the old airpods, but I have had no problem with other type of in ear ear bud like the pro models.

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

#313

Post by hrktb »

mattkevan wrote: post #200
jVinc wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I didn’t understand Sony’s strategy back when the iPod was big and I still don’t now. At roughly the same time I got an iPod, and an Apple-hating housemate bought a Sony MP3 player with a name only a barcode scanner could love. Also it couldn’t play MP3s, instead a weird proprietary format that didn’t work anywhere else. Songs had to be converted using their crappy software. He swapped it for an iPod within weeks. Ev…

Sony’s bet was that they could overcome the strategy tax by sheer talent. They could for a while (2 decades ?) but ended up losing when software became a major part of the business.

Software has always been their Achiles heel.

Their laptop where cool but running widows with super custom drivers. Their music players were cool but running weird formats with proprietary interfaces. Anything that needs software intercompatibility has been basically doomed under Sony.

In contrast Apple has decent software and overcomes the strategy tax by canibilizing itself restlessly and letting third parties eat their lunch where they’re not good enough (to a point. Apple still clings at default apps on iOS for instance)

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

#314

Post by cosmodisk »

_trampeltier wrote: post #181
kristianc wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 b…

Sony players were good but all those restrictions,need for special software and etc. was absolutely infuriating. That's why even today I'm staying with Android: drag&drop,no questions asked.

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

#315

Post by ikeboy »

addicted wrote: post #186
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 o…

My understanding is that the Airpods are not better than the high-end competition. There's plenty of $100-150 Bluetooth earbuds that have better sound quality, and a handful of sub-$100 ones that are just as good. You're paying for the name.

https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-airpods-review-wireles...

>The biggest downside? Their sound is just OK. AirPods produce a perfectly average sound that's clear in the mid-tones and is good for podcasts but doesn't pack much in the low end. And because of their open design, sound isolation is terrible. There's also no noise cancellation, so you'll be stuck hearing traffic or crowds around you. The Jabra Elite 65Ts produce much better sound at about the same price. Even budget alternatives like the $80 Anker Soundcore earbuds offer just-as-good sound for half the price.

I've read pretty much the same take from most reviewers I've looked at. It matches quality on cheaper models, and is outpaced by competitors in the same price range.

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

#316

Post by Shivetya »

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.

I don't own either but I do know this, I can tell when someone has an Apple Watch at a glance without having owned one and only seen pictures, I cannot say the same for any other smart watch.

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

#318

Post by hk__2 »

Grazester wrote: post #252
kristianc wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I am like you but with the Android. Every time I use my wife iPhone I want to toss it across the room. I think primary because it doesn't have a dedicated back button.

> I think primary because it doesn't have a dedicated back button.

Why is this an issue? Do you need dedicated back and forward buttons to browse through your pictures? Of course not, you just swipe left and right. That’s how the iPhone handles the “back” movement.

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

#319

Post by matwood »

qsymmachus wrote: post #49
dsalzman wrote: post #25

Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc. With the kicker that it is only stored locally and securely on your device, all processing done locally via HealthKit. That customized data will change how we think about patient care.

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

I don’t know about always, but my APP are so comfortable I forget I have them on.

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

#320

Post by dkonofalski »

madrox wrote: post #76

A couple years ago, I got a bit of saltwater in my iPhone and the headphone jack failed. Since the next generation of iPhone (the iPhone X) was about to come out, I held onto it for a couple months and bought AirPods. I then realized this was Apple's real reason for eliminating the headphone jack. It had nothing to do with courage. It was about eliminating a deeply ingrained user habit so they could solve the problem…

>so they could solve the problem they themselves created

I don't know if I agree with this assessment. Apple is, to a fault, driven by the user experience of their products and what the "ideal" of a situation should be. It's very likely that AirPods, or some early variant, was discussed while Steve Jobs was at Apple and the conversation probably went something like:

"What would be the perfect user experience for listening to music on an iPhone?"

"I pick up my phone and hit play and the music plays directly into my ears."

AirPods are about as close as someone can get to buying the product, putting them in their ears, and immediately listening as you can get. They set themselves up as soon as you open their case and they automatically connect to the active audio device when you put them in your ears. No one would ever add a wired cable to that process unless they absolutely had to for technical reasons. The only way to make this even more ideal is that the listening device is already in your ear or they can beam the audio directly into your ear canal without some kind of device you insert.

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