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Looks by Dr. Dre

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Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#91

Post by pbhjpbhj »

coldtea wrote: post #18
bwy wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to agree somewhat with this comment. In particular, is handling 60 SKU's really a huge problem with technology and management nowadays? It's a pity there's so much focus on small details like that and the color selection, because that's really not the main point, which the article does touch on - the two companies understand and heavily influence the consumer market and fashion, so the partnership makes sense.…

> 1. Google "iPhone 5C sales". Observe articles calling it, e.g., "Failure Flop" and "dismal." Whereas in real life it sold quite well, and made a hefty profit, just not as much as Apple expected. Other companies, including Samsung, would kill for the unit sales and protif margins of such a flop.

He did say "isn't selling very well (by its standards, of course)" intimating quite strongly that it was a sales success.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#92

Post by andrenotgiant »

paulgerhardt wrote: post #39

As nerd-ragey as some people are about the Beats deal, they have some amazing fit and finish with regards to manufacturing. See for instance their paint: most painted plastics experience an undesirable amount of "orange peeling" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_peel_(effect) ). This is caused in part by not getting the temperature of the paint high enough to form a smooth finish. Metal can withstand significantl…

That's really interesting, I love learning about these manufacturing hurdles that consumers never hear about.

Consumers don't buy Beats because they're shinier though. They buy them because of the image that comes with them, thanks to a successful marketing and endorsement campaign.

That's why knock-off beats are everywhere in Hong Kong. Manufacturers can add a "b" to any old pair of over-ear headphones and they become much more valuable. Consumers value the "b"

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#93

Post by PavlovsCat »

madeofpalk wrote: post #83
tomsthumb wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can find much better quality headphones for _much_ less. 90$ HD-280 pro's sound better than 300$ Beats..

Compare the HD-280 pro to Beats headphones, from an aesthetics point of view.

[photo showing my field of view wearing HD-280 headphones]

[photo showing my field of view wearing Beats headphones]

Photos have been omitted because they look exactly the same.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#94

Post by cenhyperion »

brickmort wrote: post #51
moheeb wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" Next time you roll into a Best Buy, compare the 'shinyness' and 'smoothness' of Beats to any other product " Yeah...just don't compare the sound.

Audiophiles almost unanimously agree that Beats headphones are sub-par when it comes to overall quality of sound.

And audiophiles are, by definition, a tiny margin of the market. They're not the target audience of beats.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#95

Post by XorNot »

stonemetal wrote: post #62
brickmort wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audiophiles almost unanimously agree that Beats headphones are sub-par when it comes to overall quality of sound.

Does Apple care what audiophiles think? iPods and the default ear buds are low quality compared to most audiophile gear.

Apple's customers should probably care that they are going to be ripped off on headphones. The issue isn't "audiophiles don't like them". It's that you can pay a lot less money and get much better headphones.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#96

Post by irremediable »

clay_to_n wrote: post #9

There's this narrative that Apple's lack of design choice has helped them, by keeping things consistent. White headphones were, for a while, almost exclusively iPod earbuds. If you saw someone rocking a white headphone cable, you knew what was in their pocket. They've branched out a little, with colors for select devices, but for the most part their visual choices are very limited. Beats seems like they've done an ex…

This is a really interesting point. I admire how Beats have managed to differentiate themselves so effectively.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#97

Post by prawn »

bsenftner wrote: post #59
tptacek wrote: post #2

The more closely you look at Beats, the more they make sense as a serious asset to a consumer electronics company, and the less plausible the "Apple just needed to get a streaming service off the ground" story is. Two more angles to consider: * Owning Beats puts Apple hardware on the heads of a huge fraction of every mobile user, whether they use iOS or not. Having a Beats brand affinity for those users makes it easi…

Owning Beats aligns Apple with hip hop and club culture, perhaps the largest driver of global consumer entertainment outside of film/tv.

Further, it potentially heads off any challenge from an upstart or established player taking that road.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#98

Post by XorNot »

ben1040 wrote: post #12
bwy wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to agree somewhat with this comment. In particular, is handling 60 SKU's really a huge problem with technology and management nowadays? It's a pity there's so much focus on small details like that and the color selection, because that's really not the main point, which the article does touch on - the two companies understand and heavily influence the consumer market and fashion, so the partnership makes sense.…

The water there is kind of muddy w/r/t the 5c because in addition to being available in multiple colors, it's also basically 2012's phone. They took the product that would have otherwise occupied the "value buyer" part of the lineup, with last year's old model, and relaunched it as if it were a new product. Is it that people prefer the single-look of the 5s, or is it that they are not willing to trade the latest-and-…

The problem with the 5c was the price difference just wasn't very big, compared to the total price of the phone. It was rather a poor prospect if you were in that market at all.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#99

Post by prawn »

taigeair wrote: post #61

I'm not clear why Beats are so popular actually. I find socially it sends the wrong message for me, functionally not as great as Bose or BW, and a bit too big + plastic for my taste.

Might be wrong for you or I, but it's a social signal for many other people. Similar to how people wear t-shirts around with giant logos on them. It says (partly) "I can afford to pay $60 for this t-shirt." Or "I am like you."

When Ralph Lauren introduced those Polo shirts with the 3-4" polo logo on them rather than the usual 1" logo, I thought it was some kind of experiment.

Re: Looks by Dr. Dre

#100

Post by bwy »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #91
coldtea wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Google "iPhone 5C sales". Observe articles calling it, e.g., "Failure Flop" and "dismal." Whereas in real life it sold quite well, and made a hefty profit, just not as much as Apple expected. Other companies, including Samsung, would kill for the unit sales and protif margins of such a flop.

He did say "isn't selling very well (by its standards, of course)" intimating quite strongly that it was a sales success.

Thank you for actually understanding what I said clearly and meant.

Seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding of my original comment :(

@madeofpalk Your comment seems critical of mine. But I'm not sure what it adds except that it may have strengthened my point that Apple has a way to organize their SKUs. Please read the original article and see what I'm trying to address.

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