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AirPods are now available

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Re: AirPods are now available

#321
My only problem with these is they're not comfortable. No, I have not worn a pair, but the speaker part is just like the current standard headphones and I've never found those comfortable. I think the pairing and siri integration, etc is all nice though.

I still have a $25 pair of Sony earbuds I bought in an airport store years ago. They are comfortable, sound great and have the mic support. Sure, they have the cord which is annoying, but I've tried Shure, Bose and a lot other wired & bluetooth earbuds and none of them sound as good as the Sony pair I have.

It's too bad Apple didn't include some kind of silicone adapter for comfort because if they did, I would consider the AirPods. But again, they're just uncomfortable.

Oh, and my wife likes her Apple headphones because they let a lot of outside sounds in. That's another reason I don't like the Apple headphones and I have a pair of Beats for noise canceling when I want it. I didn't see anywhere that the AirPods had noise canceling, so you're probably going to hear a lot of background noise when using them.

Re: AirPods are now available

#322

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

I don't think so. These are my personal reasons:

1. I would hate to talk to a person with those things in their ears.

2. I use my bluetooth headphones the same way I use my wired headphones.

3. I don't feel comfortable talking out loud to nobody in public. It doesn't feel right to talk the phone, I will probably never talk to the air. I'm not a self conscious person, but I care if people think I'm crazy.

Re: AirPods are now available

#323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually they do. What's "magical" and "reinvented" is the fact that the AirPods seamlessly switch to whatever device you're currently using, so you can switch between your desktop, laptop, iPhone, and iPad without having to actually do anything to trigger the switch. In addition, it automatically pauses your music when you take your AirPods out of your ears (and resumes it if you put them back in).

My Plantronics headset [1] has been doing most of this for years. I keep it connected to my work laptop and smartphone simultaneously and can take calls on either device with seamless switching. It also detects when it is on my ear or not. [1]: https://www.plantronics.com/us/product/voyager-legend-uc

And the Plantronics BackBeat PRO headphones: http://www.plantronics.com/uk/product/backbeat-pro

Re: AirPods are now available

#324
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

Re: AirPods are now available

#325
post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Messages is an utterly perfect, textbook example of software bloat. There are now so many garbage features, tangential to the core purpose of the app — self-deleting audio blips if you move the phone this way, internet GIF search if you swipe that way, weird drawing pad, stupid variable-location popup to add "HA HA HA" animation, recently-played music grid, full-screen-or-sometimes-not fingerpainting applet, image ed…

Yeah, I really wonder who's in charge of this mess. Like I said somewhere else in this thread, all these new features are for Apple, not for users. If they designed it for users, they would have NEVER made it so that they have to tap twice to take a photo before sending. Not to mention how they don't even allow you to open the camera as fullscreen. Isn't it really ridiculous how nowadays when you want to take a quick…

I'm not seeing this. I can take and send a picture directly from the messages app. Perhaps you need to grant access to your camera?

Re: AirPods are now available

#326

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

Forget that they are in?! For my particular shape of ears their hard shell design does not work at all. Every time I have to wear apple earbuds because I cannot find my day to day earbuds, I want to rip them out immediately, and my ears hurt after few minutes of using them.

Unless the came up with better design there is no way I am forgetting I am wearing apple earbuds.

Re: AirPods are now available

#328

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

What you are talking about is not rocket science. Binaural audio. Look it up. It has its drawbacks. Compactness of the earbuds is not a breakthrough

Re: AirPods are now available

#329

There's like a next-level Apple marketing babble on that page: "AirPods introduce an effortless wireless listening experience packed with high-quality audio and long battery life. These magical wireless headphones use advanced technology to reinvent how we listen to music, make phone calls, enjoy TV shows and movies, play games and interact with Siri, providing a wireless audio experience not possible before." Magica…

Actually they do. What's "magical" and "reinvented" is the fact that the AirPods seamlessly switch to whatever device you're currently using, so you can switch between your desktop, laptop, iPhone, and iPad without having to actually do anything to trigger the switch. In addition, it automatically pauses your music when you take your AirPods out of your ears (and resumes it if you put them back in).

> The AirPods seamlessly switch to whatever device you're currently using, so you can switch between your desktop, laptop, iPhone, and iPad without having to actually do anything to trigger the switch.

Wait... Honest question: How?

Does it switch based on which input source is currently playing audio? What if more than one is playing at a time?

Re: AirPods are now available

#330

I find this headphone war discussion a bit boring. The AirPods are much more interesting as Apple's first foray into augmented reality. If they add positioning, this product becomes Magic Leap without the visuals. I don't think they see this as a music device, they see it as a new platform for audio. Interesting things start happening when people start leaving one or both in their ears all day. Arrival times in your…

I had a pair of Sony HBH-IS800 and I gave up on them after a week. Apple's product has the same drawbacks (charging, troubleshooting, ease of misplacing, price).

This product category is not worth the hassle for the average user. Very few people will buy a second pair of wireless earbuds. Not enough to warrant building all the features you mention.

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