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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?

#251

Post by vinay427 »

reaperducer wrote: post #83
madrox wrote: post #76

A couple years ago, I got a bit of saltwater in my iPhone and the headphone jack failed. Since the next generation of iPhone (the iPhone X) was about to come out, I held onto it for a couple months and bought AirPods. I then realized this was Apple's real reason for eliminating the headphone jack. It had nothing to do with courage. It was about eliminating a deeply ingrained user habit so they could solve the problem…

I then realized this was Apple's real reason for eliminating the headphone jack. To do away with the point of failure that you so aptly illustrated by getting salt water in your phone? I wouldn't have bothered with the AirPods if my headphone jack had continued to function. That's you, though. There are clearly millions and millions of people who don't want wires.

> To do away with the point of failure that you so aptly illustrated by getting salt water in your phone?

That's Apple's point of failure. The rest of the industry (mostly) has worked out how to make a headphone jack water-resistant.

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

#252

Post by Grazester »

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?

I am like you but with the Android. Every time I use my wife iPhone I want to toss it across the room. I think primary because it doesn't have a dedicated back button.

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

#253

Post by vinay427 »

reaperducer wrote: post #83
madrox wrote: post #76

A couple years ago, I got a bit of saltwater in my iPhone and the headphone jack failed. Since the next generation of iPhone (the iPhone X) was about to come out, I held onto it for a couple months and bought AirPods. I then realized this was Apple's real reason for eliminating the headphone jack. It had nothing to do with courage. It was about eliminating a deeply ingrained user habit so they could solve the problem…

I then realized this was Apple's real reason for eliminating the headphone jack. To do away with the point of failure that you so aptly illustrated by getting salt water in your phone? I wouldn't have bothered with the AirPods if my headphone jack had continued to function. That's you, though. There are clearly millions and millions of people who don't want wires.

> To do away with the point of failure that you so aptly illustrated by getting salt water in your phone?

That's Apple's point of failure. The rest of the industry (mostly) has worked out how to make a headphone jack water-resistant, years before Apple made any phone water-resistant at that.

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

#254

Post by alexis_fr »

GuB-42 wrote: post #185
jVinc wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP wasn't saying walkman wasn't cool or have a significant market position, in fact he's saying the exact opposite. That Sony had the position an failed to use it to position new devices. Apple turned the iPod into the iPhone and iPad and now they have AirPods coming off of the same train using each product brand to push the brand of the next. Sony had the Walkman but missed the mp3-player market, didn't bring out a…

> didn't bring out a walkman phone They actually did, the Sony Ericsson W800. But if you didn't know about that, it kinda proves your point, the branding wasn't a resounding success.

He’s saying it should have been named the “Walkman Distance” or some inspiring name that evokes phone and walkman. Not the number that sounds like a container dimension or like the lubricant WD40.

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

#255

Post by lm28469 »

yjhoney wrote: post #212

I don't wear airpods because I came across a few articles saying they are they are really bad for the environment: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/neae8z/why-airpods-are-a-... Honestly a little surprised that Airpods would be so successful.

They are virtually impossible to repair and the battery becomes shit after a couple of years because they are constantly doing full cycles so yeah, not the best for the environment. Super good for business though.

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

#256

Post by Roritharr »

GuB-42 wrote: post #185
jVinc wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP wasn't saying walkman wasn't cool or have a significant market position, in fact he's saying the exact opposite. That Sony had the position an failed to use it to position new devices. Apple turned the iPod into the iPhone and iPad and now they have AirPods coming off of the same train using each product brand to push the brand of the next. Sony had the Walkman but missed the mp3-player market, didn't bring out a…

> didn't bring out a walkman phone They actually did, the Sony Ericsson W800. But if you didn't know about that, it kinda proves your point, the branding wasn't a resounding success.

I loved my W800i, it was a revelation to me, although it had no headphone jack but a clunky adaptor, i used it way longer than I needed to. Simply an outstanding device at the time.

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

#257

Post by excitom »

hellllllllooo wrote: post #146

Most profitable company in the tech world creates new product and uses prior manufacturing skill, brand awareness/loyalty, device lock-in, advertising experience and retail channels to sell it and makes more profit that arbitrary list of companies in different business areas. What's the point?

Based on the lively discussion generated in this thread - because it's interesting.

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

#258

Post by Fnoord »

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).

> (in part thanks to Apple and many Android OEMs dropping headset jacks).

That only happened on high-end smartphones. Low-end and mid-range still have 3.5 mm socket.

(Also, I actually look around regularly at the train station, and I still see mostly wired headsets. I'm using a wireless one, btw.)

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

#260

Post by greglindahl »

kristianc wrote: post #193
_trampeltier wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony's problem was never the hardware or the design. The problem was, special in the beginning of the MP3 / Smartphone age, they tryed to lock everything so hard with DRM (because other parts from Sony does sell Movies and Music). The even installed something like an trojan already very early in the MP3 market. So al lot of tech guys said "bye, bye Sony" when the market still was very young. I think they lost a lot b…

Apple had DRM on iTunes with FairPlay and AAC for around six years until the courts forced them to remove it. iTunes was still a huge business for them at the time. Sure that DRM was the real issue? Likewise, claiming that the Root Kit business (by which time the iPod had been around for a good 5 years) sunk Sony’s business seems like a bit of a reach.

I bought an iPod in that era, and didn't buy a single DRMed song -- ripped all my CDs, that was more than enough. If you look at iTunes revenue vs iPod sales, most people did what I did. Sony didn't support that. And the smaller companies that pioneered ripping+mp3 players had less-attractive products and interfaces.
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