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AirPods are now available

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Re: AirPods are now available

#281

Post by baddox »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #258
Avshalom wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, this isn't a world class entry into a nascent market. This is a pair of fucking headphones. A pair of headphones a month later than they should be that look exactly like their old headphones

> This is a pair of fucking headphones. I'm not sure if you have a bias against Apple or not but you're distilling your adjectives down to the simplest level in order to attack them. I do not believe that is a fair assessment. The AirPods include some interesting UX changes not typically seen (open case to connect, etc) and while some abilities have been done before (the tiny ear buds, the recharging case, etc) it al…

That's important to notice. Just adding "fucking" in front of what something is isn't a very good argument. You can do it to anything that people love or consider to be great. The Beatles is just a fucking band. Tesla just makes fucking electric cars. A cure for cancer is just a fucking medical discovery.

Re: AirPods are now available

#282

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

hasbroslasher wrote: post #193
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the new Messages app annoys me.

A lot of the time it seems like Apple just changes things on iOS just because , not because there's actually any tangible benefits to doing so. The UI changes for Messages iOS 10 is a perfect example - it feels cramped and complicated where it used to feel intuitive and easy to use.

I think this time it's different.

In the past it may have been true. That's why a lot of people hated iOS7 just because it was different.

But Apple's recent updates are all bad because the root cause goes up to how Apple is trying to push their own agenda--they want to become the "Services" company, because the wall street thinks their device growth has stalled. For example their stickers is an attempt to monetize their user base with app purchases. They don't care that people would rather be able to take a photo and send with one tap, because they know users have no choice anyway.

But this is super short sighted, Apple's recent moves reminds me of how Windows lost significant size of their users with Vista and went downhill.

Re: AirPods are now available

#283

Post by Terretta »

stonogo wrote: post #239
nilkn wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: can you point me to some other earbuds of the same size that are totally wireless (not even a bridging wire) and that also include a microphone, etc.? The AirPods honestly do seem like a somewhat unique entry into the market to me, but it's such a crowded market that I could have easily missed a competitor somewhere. That said, the lack of any sort of wiring is actually a negative to me, because that…

The Bragi Dash and the Samsung Gear Icon X both do this, and also include fitness tracking functionality. The Samsung ones can even be loaded with music and cache your fitness data so you don't need a phone with you.

Bragi Dash: $249.99 after $50 off

https://www.amazon.com/Bragi-Truly-Wireless-Smart-Earphones/...

Re: AirPods are now available

#284

Post by j2bax »

ksk wrote: post #272
j2bax wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To someone that uses headphones for many hours on a daily basis, useful innovation in the space definitely feels magical to me considering how long I've been using the same old dumb wired headphones.

The point is, if you want to convince others why it is so, you have to play by their rules. Your opinion is simply your opinion. I do like _some_ of Apple's products, but I would never spend 150 dollars on these headphones. I'm hoping that Apple cheerleaders will drive down the cost so I can get the version 2/3 for cheap when all the bugs have been ironed out.

Is colorful language in marketing new or unique to Apple? Are there people that actually mistake the term 'magical' in this context to mean, 'these headphones actually have supernatural forces working inside them!'

Re: AirPods are now available

#285

Post by mikestew »

Alupis wrote: post #61
donatj wrote: post #43

Do they only work with Apple products? Could I use them with an Android phone?

There already is a plethora of wireless earbuds/headphones on the market... and has been that way for years. No need to buy these overpriced ones to get wireless.

Your comment would be more useful had you answered his question instead of expressing your dislike for the product in question. There are plenty of dissenting comments that you could latch onto to express the latter.

Re: AirPods are now available

#286

Post by bhauer »

Spooky23 wrote: post #212
bhauer wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak for the other guys above, but I must have missed something. I am baffled why this particular set of wireless headphones has received as much press as it has. It seems so overblown that I have to wonder if people with iPhone 7s have actually been refusing to use existing wireless headphones because they are actually waiting for these. I've had a set of $25 Motorola wireless (Bluetooth) headphones that I…

You can't just go out and get a $25 Bluetooth headphone and expect a consistent result. The whole point of the brand is that you're getting a quality, consistent product.

I could buy a dozen of the Motorola wireless headphones I use and I expect the results would be consistently satisfying. In fact, a couple years back I did buy two spare pairs that are new in box in case I ever lose my current pair. At $25 a pop, I figured why not have some insurance.

But I understand you. If you've not previously used wireless headphones and you're satisfied with Apple quality, this new offering is a known quantity. I'm still not really feeling the innovation. Except of course, as someone pointed out, this is a subtle redefinition of "wireless" to mean not just removing the wire to the device, but also any bridge between the two ears. For me, that bridge isn't something I care to remove. But okay, that's cool.

Re: AirPods are now available

#287

Post by jodrellblank »

plainOldText wrote: post #63
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because... it IS a marketing page? As much as I've also become an apple hater recently because of what they've done to iOS10 and the new macbook pro, I think criticizing a marketing copy for being a marketing copy is not fair.

What are some of the things you hate about iOS 10? I've also disliked a few changes they've introduced, but after spending more time with the OS, I've discovered that some changes were not as bad as I'd initially considered. It was more a matter of getting used to. I guess people don't like changes to the things they've grown accustomed to.

The things mentioned by other people - message notification lag, stupid slidy cards for brightness and volume, lockscreen press home button to jump through hoop. Also

- Photos. Wtf is the distinction between 'photos' and 'albums'. Why does Photos pretend to be a chronological hierarchy of Year -> Month -> Day but then drop to Tumblr style 'related' links, while Memories contain your grouped photos in any order, but so does Albums. Albums also try to dynamically group things by 'location' and 'selfies' and 'video' and 'camera roll'. Oh, they're all showing the same thing - the last thing I recorded? Useful. It's a complete mess and super frustrating to use.

- The changes to take and send photos in iMessage. Used to be that taking a photo meant pressing and holding the photo button, sliding up to take a video. Now it's more steps, and the camera shutter button is awkwardly at the bottom of the screen, then there's another slider to the left to reveal another camera button, to switch to the camera app, to take a video. More steps for everything, which also displaces 'insert a previously taken photo'. Who benefits?

- Video editing (trim) was glitchy in iOS9 and still is in iOS 10. Seriously, take photo, play with trim, randomly the video stops changing with the slider position, then the screen goes black, have to task-end the Photos app and try again. Video playback in Safari, also glitchy - pause somewhere, or skip forwards, get it playing from the start at 10x framerate (or more) with no audio, to 'catch up' to the new seek location. Seeking is still fiddly and often doesn't work well.

- Still need to care about WiFi vs. Cellular because "we changed our App icon to a Christmas one" still means tens or hundreds of download.

Re: AirPods are now available

#288

Post by Terretta »

cfstras wrote: post #277
monochromatic wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you hate about iOS10? The new Messages app annoys me, but otherwise it seems fine.

In 1/10 cases, it takes me over 20 seconds to unlock my phone. The new "click twice to unlock" feature combined with apparently hard-to-detect fingerprints is really annoying.

You can change the setting back.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/09/14/ios-10-how-to-hate-pressing-t...

Re: AirPods are now available

#289

Post by pfranz »

dep_b wrote: post #162
pfranz wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good news/bad news for 5. Try backing up and restoring. It's a huge pain and shouldn't be required, but it does tend to fix outlier issues. A friend has a 16gb iPhone and has managed to deal with that little space until just recently. She'd run out of space completely, I'd hand-update apps one-at-a-time trying to free up temp download space. Deleted her local music. A few weeks later deleted her local photos. iMessag…

You can clear out a lot of space by trying to download a huge movie from iTunes. Just trying is enough. It will first purge all accumulated cruft before telling you you still don't have enough space. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/out-of-space-on-your-iphone-try-...

Even though people disagree, what Apple does there makes sense to me. It's like all of my kind of tech savvy friends always complaining they're out of RAM. It gets freed when you need it. Having empty space does you no good, deleting caches prematurely wastes resources both deleting and regenerating it. It does suck not having an accurate count of how much free space you have when you're making sure you have space to download an app or take pictures for your trip. I think it's terrible for so long Apple only sold 16gb phones and the next size up was 64gb. They're also so stingy on iCloud space that most people I know can't keep an iCloud backup.

However, in my case had I tried this and it didn't work.

Re: AirPods are now available

#290

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

hueving wrote: post #188
gambiting wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like calling a Tesla "an electric version of the same cars that were on the road for decades". Each headphone has a new chip that could probably run a whole smartphone few years ago - but I mean, if the fact that they are wireless is not impressive, then I don't think we can convince you.

Are you seriously suggesting these are the first wireless headphones?

I think you just did, not OP.
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