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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?

#171

Post by c0nducktr »

jonny_eh wrote: post #165
sosborn wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those batteries are replaceable, just not by you (officially anyway).

The batteries are not replaceable, at all. > An update to Monday’s report: Apple has confirmed that the new AirPods Pro are no more repairable than previous versions of the wireless earbuds. The pods are made partly with recyclable materials but due to size and build process (i.e glue) it doesn’t repair. Just replace. https://twitter.com/LaurenGoode/status/1189663651214450688

I believe they were referring to the batteries in their other products, not the airpods.

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

#172

Post by factotvm »

kristianc wrote: post #135
eanzenberg wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about the marketing swaying people these days. People are going for the easiest devices to use that get out of the way and are high quality.

Which I guess would explain why there are Android phones that crush the iPhone on tech specs but make a minuscule (and sometimes negative) proportion of the industry’s profit?

No one is crushing anyone in the phone market. They leap frog each other from time to time, but to the average consumer there is little difference between the flagship phones.

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

#173

Post by paxys »

ozim wrote: post #147
paxys wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am of course not debating that AirPods are successful. However, - If one random sales estimate is $6 billion and the other is $12 billion, it is clear that there isn't enough information out there, or something else is amiss. This isn't just a margin of error difference, and would completely change the graph in the parent article. - There is nothing useful to be taken away from comparing its sales numbers against a…

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 ready to go at moment's notice

- a logistics, operations and distribution pipeline in every market in the world

- the most successful product in the world (iPhone) which you can attach your sales to

- billions in marketing and advertising budgets

- premium retail locations across the world

AirPods are NOT a startup, and should not be compared to other startups. "Make software" is definitely still good advice for the vast majority of entrepreneurs out there.

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

#174

Post by quxbar »

sevencolors wrote: post #65
sadmann1 wrote: post #3

Are airpods really worth it or is it just marketing

The killer feature is the connection awareness. You put them in your ears and it immediately connects. You take them out and it pauses the audio. I’ve had several wireless earbuds and they all suffer from connection frustrations and letting audio continue playing when not used.

This. Even the latest high-end sony offerings can't quickly switch between devices - you have to manually re-pair them each time you want to switch devices.

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

#175

Post by londons_explore »

themagician wrote: post #60
jackhalford wrote: post #17

I have a pair of Airpods. What bugs me most is that le lithium battery is not replaceable, and will degrade after a couple years. which makes these a high-end throwaway device...

Same. After 2 years I had to buy a second pair. Apple apparently DOES offer battery service for these, but it's $49 PER AirPod. If it was $49 for both I might be up for it. Apple's battery service across the board is just too damn expensive. I get that it's the labor costs involved, but I wish they would put more thought into this. I have three older iPads, a few older iPhones and a MacBook Air that are perfectly usa…

Do they actually change the batteries in them, or do they just give you new airpods?

I can't imagine the genius bar has tweezers and microscopes for battery replacements in-store...

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

#177

Post by smhinsey »

mastazi wrote: post #141

I can't wear any earphones for more than 5 minutes without them falling off, this is due to the morphology of my ears. I wonder: how large is the percentage of people with the same problem? Anecdotal, but I know personally at least a couple other people that can't wear earphones for the same reason. Note: I'm talking about earphones/earbuds exclusively, headphones are fine for obvious reasons. Also some types of earp…

If it's an ongoing problem that you really want to solve, check out companies like Etymotic who will take custom molds and make you exactly the earbud you need. I don't have headphones like this but I did get my musician-quality earplugs for live music done this way and it is a 1000% game changer for me.

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

#178

Post by alfonsodev »

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #155
gumby wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. Actually the Walkman (which was arguably Sony's second breakout product, the first being a transistor radio) Sony was definitely the cool kid. And don't forget the Playstation or the Trinitron. In fact Steve Jobs explicitly emulated and admired Sony for their (then) sense of style, customer appeal and quality. The S…

It's odd that you say decay. IMO Sony's products are still quite good! I have a Sony-WM1A sitting next to me right now that's well-made, and I'm using Sony WF-1000MX3's as headphones, which are also well made. Not only that, but the Sony MDR-EX1000's that I own that are quite old are still buzzing. I can't quite say that for many Apple products I've purchased in the last decade.

When did Sony stop naming things the simple way (Walkman, Vaio...) and started naming stuff like that (WF-100MX3 and the like). Im saying this as half joke only :D

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

#179

Post by skizm »

mastazi wrote: post #141

I can't wear any earphones for more than 5 minutes without them falling off, this is due to the morphology of my ears. I wonder: how large is the percentage of people with the same problem? Anecdotal, but I know personally at least a couple other people that can't wear earphones for the same reason. Note: I'm talking about earphones/earbuds exclusively, headphones are fine for obvious reasons. Also some types of earp…

The pros you sort of shove into the ear canal and they're more or less wedged in place, right? Same with other earbuds like jaybirds. They're very different design than the normal airpods in that sense which I could totally see falling out if you were missing this "bump" on your ear.

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

#180

Post by 123six »

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…

Also, sources are updated in the article. Thanks for mentioning the lack of links.
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