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

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

#541

Post by toasterlovin » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:33 AM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #466

filoleg wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried using any of them with multiple devices? Not at the same time, obviously, but in scenarios like "listening to them connected to phone while on the bus, getting into your office, switching to listening to them on your laptop". If not, I recommend you testing out this specific scenario. For a lot of the ones I tested, it becomes an exercise in patience and frustration. There were even some that refused t…

I've been switching between my Ubuntu laptop and Android phone. Pretty simple, I do need to disconnect it manually on one device before switching to the other but that takes a second. I don't believe Airpods would be any better in that scenario.

> ...but that takes a second.

A huge percentage of our species gladly trade money for, objectively speaking, very minor improvements in convenience or experience. Apple has been taking this fact to the bank for 30 years. You may not have the same preferences, but you're probably in the minority. FWIW.

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

#542

Post by JoBrad » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:34 AM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #529

JoBrad wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iTunes is very much alive for the majority of IPhone/iPad users.

I haven’t needed to connect an iOS device to iTunes since iOS 5 in 2011.

It’s pretty much the main way to get any movies from a Windows personal drive on an iPad, etc., unless you’re using something like Plex.

Edit: added Windows clarification

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

#543

Post by JoBrad » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:36 AM UTC

asutekku wrote: post #283

JoBrad wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iTunes is very much alive for the majority of IPhone/iPad users.

I really don’t think so. I’d say only minority is using it after streaming services became popular and you can easily do OTA updates. Not much of a reason to use it anymore, that’s why Apple even discontinued it.

It’s not discontinued for Windows. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/itunes/9pb2mz1zmb1s

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

#544

Post by barkingcat » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:44 AM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #140

barkingcat wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

almost everything apple makes has that feature ... degrades in a few years, throw away, buy another. ipads, iphones, even some modern mac laptops that have the disks soldered and batteries glued, etc.

Apple products have really long life span compared to the alternatives, actually. That's why their products have very good re-sell value. Nothing degrades, you pass your iProduct down the line in the family to the less tech-savvy members. My father is using my iPhone 5 now and works great after the battery replacement. People still user their iPods, iPad 2's and so on. Airpods are an exception to the rule here. I won…

The modern macbook pros (not the recent 16's) have the worst keyboards ever. That won't last a few years without being returned to apple for the Free Apple Keyboard quality program.

That's an entire generation of Apple laptops of all kinds - Apple MacBook Air 13, Macbook Pro 13, Macbook Pro 15 - all of them having their keyboards eventually malfunctioning, and ultimately needing their keyboards refurbished or replaced outright.

If you think this doesn't indicate Apple has a quality problem I don't know what you're thinking about. (They admitted it themselves and have a repair program that basically has their entire slate of MacBook products on permanent free repair for the foreseeable future)

And by the way, when you take your laptop to Apple, and they offer to replace the "Top Case" for your laptop for free, where do you think it's going? the battery probably goes to refurb, but a large portion of it is just getting junked because it has a genuine design issue to begin with.

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

#545

Post by toasterlovin » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:46 AM UTC

asdff wrote: post #512

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…

The fashion was everything. The ipod mini with it's colors. The iconic dancing silloutte ad campaign, where the only defining characteristic is the status symbol of the all white ipod and all white headphone. Growing up during the rise of the ipod, it absolutely was a status symbol first and foremost. Owning a zune gave you more ridicule in middle school than not owning an mp3 player at all. People were buying earpod…

> Growing up during the rise of the ipod, it absolutely was a status symbol

It was a status symbol for you and your teenage friends. Life expectancy is currently around 80 in the developed world and teenagers don't really have disposable income, so teenagers weren't really driving sales. Apple made cool commercials and cool colors because they could.

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

#546

Post by genS3 » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:48 AM UTC

npo9 wrote: post #327

aguyfromnb wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and people hate them, but there are no alternatives. Why would you want something permanently in your ear to measure heart rate?

You want something in your ears for a majority of the time because they play music and drown out background noise. Gathering health data is just a good secondary benefit.

yeah ok. please never be in power I do not want to live in the matrix. I suppose if apple were developing something to plug in one's anus to measure the quality of fart air and microbiomes you'd buy-in. What a world we living in

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

#547

Post by toasterlovin » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:49 AM UTC

Fnoord wrote: post #343

dkonofalski wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It didn't even have 3G. You couldn't use MMS. It lacked a ton of other basic features, such as custom software. None of these things, in any way, take away from how simple the first iPhone was to use. Once again, you missed the point completely .

It was limited in its usage (terrible speed while 3G was widely available, limited applications while Symbian had these, could not update via repositories which my Nokia N-series could, could not even use a comm feature like MMS). Apple got away with it because of their iPod fame, and that the UI was a decent capacitive touch-based one which nobody else managed to do.

Again, nothing you've mentioned made the original iPhone complex. They were missing features. But them being missing didn't make using the phone complicated to comprehend.

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

#548

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:49 AM UTC

aguyfromnb wrote: post #79

memetomancer wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stopped reading there. says much more about your limitations than about airpods... ever heard of hearing aids?

Yes, and people hate them, but there are no alternatives. Why would you want something permanently in your ear to measure heart rate?

[deleted]

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

#549

Post by manquer » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:50 AM UTC

lowboy wrote: post #333

ikeboy wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-t…

Audio quality is only one of the metrics for comparison, including: - form factor (my powerbeats pro case is huge compared to airpods) - handoff between different Apple devices - BT reliability/connection strength (mostly down to BT 4 vs 5) - fit and finish - noise cancellation People weigh all of these things differently to arrive at what is "best". If a broad range of wireless buds all meet someone's threshold for…

Form factor is largely a fashion parameter which is what OP is saying , it is not purely technical superiority driving buying decisions

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

#550

Post by toasterlovin » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 4:50 AM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #350

Fnoord wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the first iPhone was not simple to use. It didn't even have 3G. You couldn't use MMS. It lacked a ton of other basic features, such as custom software. Then there was the need for jailbreaking to get some basic features back. Ever since Web 2.0 it was clear to me that a touch-based UI would win if you used a web browser; it was Apple's capacitive touch UI which was the killer feature. Nobody had such even thou…

HTC had touch UI few years before Apple, Apple just happened to be very good with marketing. Apple spent around 40-50m on the initial rollout, a sum completely unheard of in the industry. And they bested themselves every iphone release since. Even today, closest contenders are far from that mark.

People don't spend $700 on a phone because they were hoodwinked by good marketing. And they certainly don't continue to spend $700 every several years because they were hoodwinked by good marketing.