Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing? • Hacker News Board

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

#371

Post by CorvetteZR1 » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:33 AM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #315

addicted wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree about the fashion bit. The iPod was better than any competitor it faced ever. The UI with the click wheel was completely unmatched. Maybe the Zune, years later, came close, but Apple absolutely crushed it with the iPhone and iPod touch. The iPhone was leaps and bounds ahead of its time, to the point that the then King of the hill, BlackBerry, didn’t even think it was possible. And the smoothness o…

My understanding is that the Airpods are not better than the high-end competition. There's plenty of $100-150 Bluetooth earbuds that have better sound quality, and a handful of sub-$100 ones that are just as good. You're paying for the name. https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-airpods-review-wireles... >The biggest downside? Their sound is just OK. AirPods produce a perfectly average sound that's clear in the mid-t…

With Airpods for the most part you're paying for the convenience and features. With the W1 chip they pair super fast and are really convenient to use. Sound quality is decent but something like the Sony WF1000xm3's will obviously blow them away.

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

#372

Post by filmgirlcw » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:33 AM UTC

bosie wrote: post #331

cosmodisk wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course you can make money making physical things.The only problem is you either make them premium or you have to sell zillions of units to make profit. We have "Apple" in every industry ( fashion, automotive, catering,etc.), however that's still only a handful.Making software is probably more likely to earn you tons of meney.

Which companies in the fashion industry are Apple-like?

Its a conglomerate and many brands, but LVMH is probably the closest comparison of an Apple to fashion.

It’s a luxury brand group, but has price points that go from attainable to stratospheric.

If I had to pick one label, I would choose Burberry (fitting, since Apple went on a Burberry hiring spree a number of years ago, and not just for retail but in design) or Marc Jacobs (which is part of LVMH).

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

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Post by Daneel_ » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:33 AM UTC

Grazester wrote: post #252

kristianc wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Apple’s design language is to put the ‘back’ item at the top left of the screen, usually as a < symbol.

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

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Post by filoleg » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:35 AM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #348

Anyone have experience using AirPods with Android? I have a Google Pixel(first gen) and have tried various Bluetooth earbuds, but they all suck and have frequent interference. Would be cool if I can bite the bullet and get AirPods without suffering those same issues.

Used them for a year on my old Galaxy S8+, no issues whatsoever. In fact, they worked so well, they made me consider a forage into other apple once again, after not using any for over 5 years. A lot of my friends with Androids use airpods as well, and they vastly seem to prefer them, considering that a good number of them went through a few other truly wireless in-ear headphones before settling on airpods.

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

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Post by Can_Not » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

gz5 wrote: post #40

Amazing how Apple managed to make the first cool MP3 player, then the first cool smartphone and now the first cool bluetooth headset. For almost 20 years now, Apple has owned electronic fashion. Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. And make no mistake about it - a huge portion of these sales are people buying Apple's marketing - not buying the tech itsel…

> first cool MP3 player

The iPod was far from the first, far from the best, and maybe even technically not an mp3 player.

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

#376

Post by tootie » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

capkutay wrote: post #300

gz5 wrote: post #40

Amazing how Apple managed to make the first cool MP3 player, then the first cool smartphone and now the first cool bluetooth headset. For almost 20 years now, Apple has owned electronic fashion. Sony for example was unable to parlay its Walkman dominance into similar positions with new devices. And make no mistake about it - a huge portion of these sales are people buying Apple's marketing - not buying the tech itsel…

Remember when the airpods first came out? SNL, Conan O'Brian, all of twitter were basically dragging it through the mud and making a mockery of them. 3 years later you can't walk around a major city or airport without seeing a significant amount of people using them.

People made fun of pagers, cell phones and bluetooth headsets pretty relentlessly too.

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

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Post by harikb » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:37 AM UTC

paulddraper wrote: post #364

morganvachon wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Imagine thinking that AirPods were the first wireless headset.

Well technically, most others had a "wire" connecting left part to the right part :P

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

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Post by mbesto » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:38 AM UTC

skyyler wrote: post #24

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...

That doesn't differ from their other offerings... Their laptops and phones do not have replaceable batteries, why would their headphones?

> Their laptops and phones do not have replaceable batteries, why would their headphones?

That's like comparing a car to wheels. Laptops/phones have infinitely more use cases to them. Headphones are accessories.

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

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Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:38 AM UTC

eikenberry wrote: post #366

lowboy wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audio quality is only one of the metrics for comparison, including: - form factor (my powerbeats pro case is huge compared to airpods) - handoff between different Apple devices - BT reliability/connection strength (mostly down to BT 4 vs 5) - fit and finish - noise cancellation People weigh all of these things differently to arrive at what is "best". If a broad range of wireless buds all meet someone's threshold for…

Audio quality may be only one metric, but it is by far the most important. When shopping for headphones/iems you first listen to them and find the ones that sound how you like, then you compare on all other factors. I think most people who buy them do so because the marketing, not due to the experience. They know the brand and know they won't suck. Not that they are the best.

I doubt anyone I know cares about audio quality better than what airpods provide. What they care about is a device that works (I.e. pairs and has long battery life). Plus it has some neat features integrated with other Apple hardware, such as being able to listen to the audio from an Apple TV.

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

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Post by filoleg » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:39 AM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #37

How does this compare to Apple Watch? Sounds to me like this is a fairly big upside surprise. If you were given the choice beforehand, which of the two would you want to have managed? I would have guessed Watch but it looks like I'm wrong. Pretty astonishing that people will throw an extra quarter on top of the price of their phone for this, especially given that I've used noise cancelling headphones before. My guess…

>how does this compare to apple watch

One more thing to consider, Apple Watch works with iPhones only. It might have changed now, but given how integrated with apple ecosystem the watch is, i doubt it is anything but a weak neutered version of the iphone+apple watch experience.

Airpods, on the other hand, work great with Android. The only neutered “features” are those that i dont consider vital at all (like being able to rename the display name of your airpods that gets sent to devices attempting to pair with them).