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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?

#351

Post by prepend »

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…

At the time Sony owned record companies and, foolishly, thought that they would make more money from IP than hardware. So they crippled their music players.

I had a Sony MP3 player in 2000. It only played atrac files and I had to specially rip and encode my cds to be able to play. The hardware was neat, it was like a thick pencil. But the software was purposely horrible because Sony wanted to not allow mp3s or songs bought outside their ecosystem.

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

#352

Post by Fnoord »

amatecha wrote: post #335
ramses0 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 w…

Don't forget also: tangible buttons for user input, so you can change music tracks without having to look at or tap on a specific spot on a touch screen! Probably the #1 thing I miss from my Pebble OG :(

The value of hardware buttons without having to look on your screen is underrated. You can put a Pebble alarm off in your sleep. You can change a track without even seeing your watch.

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

#353

Post by hoten »

ravenstine wrote: post #348

Anyone have experience using AirPods with Android? I have a Google Pixel(first gen) and have tried various Bluetooth earbuds, but they all suck and have frequent interference. Would be cool if I can bite the bullet and get AirPods without suffering those same issues.

works fine on my pixel 2. You can't 100% control the pods from your phone (only thing I know is you need to sync w/ a mac to change stuff like wifi name).

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

#354

Post by Fnoord »

jrockway wrote: post #342
Fnoord wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (in part thanks to Apple and many Android OEMs dropping headset jacks). That only happened on high-end smartphones. Low-end and mid-range still have 3.5 mm socket. (Also, I actually look around regularly at the train station, and I still see mostly wired headsets. I'm using a wireless one, btw.)

> I actually look around regularly at the train station, and I still see mostly wired headsets. I see the occasional default Apple headphones, but the vast majority of people are using Airpod-alikes.

Maybe an American thing. Look around at Amsterdam CS or Utrecht CS or Rotterdam CS. Mostly wired.

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

#355

Post by Tade0 »

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…

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

The former is subjective, as for the latter - what's the competition to which they are favourably priced?

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

#356

Post by 013a »

FireBeyond wrote: post #230
013a wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

> the hardware you use to listen to the music is worth more than the music itself Which still isn't a useful comparison. One is an outright purchase, and the other a subscription service.

I never said it would be Useful. I said it would be Interesting.

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

#357

Post by rconti »

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…

And the Zune was crippled by PlaysForSure DRM, even coming later.

Apple added on their own crippling DRM after that.

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

#358

Post by rconti »

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…

I literally just had this conversation with a friend. He was interested in the WF-1000RX3 and I thought it was the over-the-ear phones, but it turns out that's their buds; the over-the ears are WH-1000RX3. (I may have those names wrong, they're just so stupid I don't care, but the point is, the only difference between earbuds and massive over-the-ear cans is the 2nd character in an alphanumeric soup)

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

#359

Post by baybal2 »

paxys wrote: post #173
ozim wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

"If you are Apple" is the key part of it. A software company can be successful with a bunch of programmers and their laptops, and can go head-to-head with Google, Facebook or anyone else. That describes all the startups on the list. To emulate AirPods' success you need: - a chip design/fabrication team - a battery design team - procurement specialists and high-volume vendor contracts in Asia, with assembly lines read…

I have an ex-coworker who did a consulting contract for Apple Air Pods Pro design.

You will not believe how low key was that project. It could've easily been a design from an average if not a lower tier OEM.

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

#360

Post by filoleg »

ravenstine wrote: post #341
skyyler wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If that's true, it actually sounds like a good deal.

https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service

It is true, and it is indeed a pretty decent deal. $49 over the course of a few years is imo a reasonable price I am willing to pay for this. They also have a similar reasonably-priced battery replacement program for iPhones as well.

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