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Google Pixel Buds

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Re: Google Pixel Buds

#101

Post by hnra »

matwood wrote: post #99
encom wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know it won't be. Wireless headphones are disposable. My wired Sennheisers are 10 years old. I've replaced the foam pads on them, which are still available from 1st and 3rd parties. I know someone who just replaced the pads on her Sennheisers which are 25 years old now. I was basically called a luddite here the other day, because I thought firmware updating headphones is madness, but I stand by what I said. Wirel…

> Wireless headphones are a solution to a manufactured problem, You can think that, but getting rid of wires is an improvement over nearly any situation other than sitting at a desk. And even then, I still sometimes slide away from the desk and yank on the cord.

It also completely disregards the fact that wireless headphones were popular before the headphone jack was removed.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#102

Post by thanksforfish »

clusmore wrote: post #20

Off-topic but this website is such a blatant rip-off of the AirPods Pro landing page[1] (EDIT: Discussed at the time [2]), and I _hate_ the UX. I'm not sure what device this is optimised for, but it requires a tonn of scrolling, it's janky, you end up scrolling past the info you want, it breaks basic functionality like Ctrl+F. Why not just make a video instead of a webpage, since that's clearly the effect they're goi…

This is a good reminder that if you want good design, don't just rip off another site, implement it, and ship. Build a prototype, user test it, and when they say this sucks, try something else.

I'd love to see some more tech companies go the Berkshire Hathaway route: https://berkshirehathaway.com/ Metrics for load time, readability, usability, are great. :)

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#103

Post by encom »

matwood wrote: post #99
encom wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know it won't be. Wireless headphones are disposable. My wired Sennheisers are 10 years old. I've replaced the foam pads on them, which are still available from 1st and 3rd parties. I know someone who just replaced the pads on her Sennheisers which are 25 years old now. I was basically called a luddite here the other day, because I thought firmware updating headphones is madness, but I stand by what I said. Wirel…

> Wireless headphones are a solution to a manufactured problem, You can think that, but getting rid of wires is an improvement over nearly any situation other than sitting at a desk. And even then, I still sometimes slide away from the desk and yank on the cord.

On the face of it, no wires seem like a good thing, but it brings with it a range of drawbacks.

Compatibility: Bluetooth isn't supported on all devices. And Bluetooth setup and pairing can still be a mess. Analog means round peg goes in round hole and it always works. Sound quality: Bluetooth, as far as I know, still doesn't transmit PCM, so audio is compressed, which may or may not be perceptible to you. Latency: Unavoidable, and may or may not be important to you. Longevity: Wireless means more complexity, and higher price and another battery I need to charge and that will only last N cycles before it dies. Stallman-ity: Wireless headphones run proprietry closed sourced code that you have no control over.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#104

Post by jahn716 »

thanksforfish wrote: post #102
clusmore wrote: post #20

Off-topic but this website is such a blatant rip-off of the AirPods Pro landing page[1] (EDIT: Discussed at the time [2]), and I _hate_ the UX. I'm not sure what device this is optimised for, but it requires a tonn of scrolling, it's janky, you end up scrolling past the info you want, it breaks basic functionality like Ctrl+F. Why not just make a video instead of a webpage, since that's clearly the effect they're goi…

This is a good reminder that if you want good design, don't just rip off another site, implement it, and ship. Build a prototype, user test it, and when they say this sucks, try something else. I'd love to see some more tech companies go the Berkshire Hathaway route: https://berkshirehathaway.com/ Metrics for load time, readability, usability, are great. :)

Wow that BH site. Could be a remnant from the Geocities/Angelfire days and I wouldn't say otherwise.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#105

Post by [deleted] »

Waterluvian wrote: post #91
notechback wrote: post #71

Marvellous! Another product with non-replaceable batteries. Hostile to both consumers and the environment. Really sad to see that all these big companies don't care even to the smallest degree about all their own environmental pledges.

This got me thinking. Are there _common_ standard consumer rechargable batteries of the tinier sizes? I know of the little watch batteries but never perceive those as having high quality rechargable options.

[deleted]

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#106

Post by hacker_newz »

I will never understand why Google continues to invest in products they fail miserably at. They were late to the market with the first Pixel buds, and this doesn't seem any better. That battery life is terrible.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#107

Post by hvidgaard »

retSava wrote: post #90
samcrawford wrote: post #10

"Get real-time translations right in your ear". This immediately made me think of the babelfish from Hitchhiker's Guide. Looking forward to reading some reviews of these.

Had a Google hangouts meeting with a US and an AU participant, and I'm from Sweden, and amazingly enough Hangouts (or is it Meet now?) can provide close to real-time closed captions (subtitles), with a very high degree of accuracy. It also shows who is saying something, so subs may be, PartA: Who's going? PartB: I'm going. PartC: When is it? What boggles my mind is why it doesn't immediately after the meeting end, Ha…

My experience with captions is that it fails hilariously when the person speaking is not a native speaker and not completely fluent. You will understand the point they're making with reasonable accuracy, but if you only read the captions you would not have anywhere near the same understanding it at all.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#108

Post by adrusi »

retSava wrote: post #90
samcrawford wrote: post #10

"Get real-time translations right in your ear". This immediately made me think of the babelfish from Hitchhiker's Guide. Looking forward to reading some reviews of these.

Had a Google hangouts meeting with a US and an AU participant, and I'm from Sweden, and amazingly enough Hangouts (or is it Meet now?) can provide close to real-time closed captions (subtitles), with a very high degree of accuracy. It also shows who is saying something, so subs may be, PartA: Who's going? PartB: I'm going. PartC: When is it? What boggles my mind is why it doesn't immediately after the meeting end, Ha…

People expect there to be no log for phonecalls, and that extends to video calls. Google might well keep a log for themselves, but if they sent it to participants, they would alienate many of them.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#109

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

hnra wrote: post #97
encom wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know it won't be. Wireless headphones are disposable. My wired Sennheisers are 10 years old. I've replaced the foam pads on them, which are still available from 1st and 3rd parties. I know someone who just replaced the pads on her Sennheisers which are 25 years old now. I was basically called a luddite here the other day, because I thought firmware updating headphones is madness, but I stand by what I said. Wirel…

I'm guessing you mean earbuds? Wireless or not, earbuds don't seem to last long for me. I've owned multiple Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic buds over the last years and not a single one lasted a year. Bought a pair of "true" wireless ones this time around which seems a lot more durable, but time will tell.

I just tossed my Bose earbuds that I took to Afghanistan in 2011.

Re: Google Pixel Buds

#110

Post by aikinai »

hobofan wrote: post #98
sneak wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything about the pixel buds is a blatant airpods ripoff, it appears. That’s fine by me, though. I’d love to see a third company/platform try to get in on the act, too.

Both the product and the landing pages are so generic that I would have a hard time calling them a rip off. Every major audio/smartphone company has a product with very similar featurset in their lineup, and this is just Google following suite.

The products and pages look the same since they all copied Apple. The same thing has happened with packaging. I guess you could technically call it standard now, but it all originated with Apple.
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