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

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

#571

Post by mradonic » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 6:58 AM UTC

kabacha wrote: post #560

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…

oof, this sort of writing is why I avoid any apple threads on hackernews. "X was better than Y" without any sort of support. How come we have such high expectations for argument quality for every other topic other than how "apple is better" - it has reached the point where I read it and I almost jump to astroturfing conclusions. Fortunately for Apple their fans are dedicated enough to astroturf for free!

You are being unreasonable. People don’t have time to analyze every point they make, and they especially don’t need to if it’s pretty much agreed to by now by everyone in tech except couple of Apple haters like yourself. If you disagree with something call it out and let the parent comments defend it, instead of complaining how hacker news is full of fanboys. It’s what forums are for after all.

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

#572

Post by Kiro » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:06 AM UTC

Threads about wireless headphones used to be filled with comments dismissing the whole concept. Now all of a sudden it's the best thing ever. HN really is a bad predictor for trends.

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

#573

Post by tempestn » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:09 AM UTC

hart_russell wrote: post #566

If apple is a public company, why are exact sales figures unknown?

Public companies have to report their figures as a whole, but aren't required to divulge sales data on specific products if they don't want to.

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

#574

Post by josteink » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:12 AM UTC

morganvachon wrote: post #217

paxys wrote: post #21

As always, none of the numbers are official, so take all of them with a huge grain of salt. The article also doesn't link to a single source, not even an unofficial one. > Assuming an even split of sales between Gen 1, Gen 2, and AirPods Pro, Airpods revenue was $12 billion in 2019 This itself is a terrible assumption. AirPods Pro launched in November 2019, so had just 2 months of sales. Even otherwise, there is neve…

It's not just the numbers, there are other wild assumptions going on. > That means almost all iPhone users are still either using wired earphones or none at all. I'm sorry, what? Non-Apple branded Bluetooth earphones (including AirPod knockoffs) are ubiquitous, and far outnumber wired earphones (in part thanks to Apple and many Android OEMs dropping headset jacks).

> I'm sorry, what? Non-Apple branded Bluetooth earphones (including AirPod knockoffs) are ubiquitous, and far outnumber wired earphones (in part thanks to Apple and many Android OEMs dropping headset jacks).

Maybe in new sales, but not in deployed use.

I’ll buy a quality headset or in-ear and it might last me a decade.

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

#575

Post by tempestn » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:16 AM UTC

hyperpallium wrote: post #559

As accessories, sales are limited to iphone numbers... ...until Airpods get an eSIM (like apple watches) and become standalone products, they'll be earphones. Ear-phones, geddit? Telephones for your ears , they'll be like... oh never mind.

FWIW the 'phone' suffix just means relating to sound. A "tele-" phone transmits sound over distance. "ear" phones put sound in your ears. (Megaphone makes sounds loud, xylophone is a (traditionally) wood thing that makes sound, homophones sound the same, ...)

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

#576

Post by mewwts » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:17 AM UTC

xnyan wrote: post #417

wyclif wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Here in SE Asia, everybody still uses 3.5mm jack smartphones. It's a rare occurrence to see wireless earpods, and almost always these are cheap Chinese AirPod knockoffs.

Some of the cheap knockoffs are getting really good. Mine get 4.5 hrs battery life, have the optical sensor on the bud that pauses when taken out and wireless charging case including an cloned (stolen) apple SoC that gives the real battery life of the "airpods" and case when the case is opened.

Interesting! Have a link?

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

#577

Post by baybal2 » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:29 AM UTC

zepto wrote: post #563

baybal2 wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that the man is an analog extraordinaire, there shouldn't be any reason for them to hire him for anything but that I believe.

Are you saying the H1 and W1 could have been designed by a lower tier OEM?

Yes, that's a walk in the park ASIC

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

#578

Post by snypox » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:30 AM UTC

chiefalchemist wrote: post #322

FireBeyond wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

True. But $10 x 12 = $120 subscription per year. That's a decent buck and a fairly large market.

And on a long term, more profitable probably. We won’t see Spotify disappearing for a while.

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

#579

Post by Lewton » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:30 AM UTC

NikolaNovak wrote: post #568

paulddraper wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't they? https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/headset

In my environment we tend to call "Headset" something that is set up for quality conversations (think gaming or office headsets - large earmuffs and microphone boom being defining quality) and "Headphones" things that are intended primarily for consuming/listening (which may incidentally have a microphone, typically inferior). Understanding that may not be wider usage, I feel there exists a need (or at least benefit)…

AirPods are intended (and great) for talking

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

#580

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 7:32 AM UTC

aianus wrote: post #80

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…

Beats invented the first cool bluetooth headset.

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