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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#881

Post by Chazprime »

p2t2p wrote: post #827
nsxwolf wrote: post #733

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like "workarounds become a reflex". This is a very succinct way of describing one of the causes of why people often claim to have no issues using something that universally has issues. A great example is the gaming PC vs gaming console war. PC gamers often seem to refuse to admit there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system and modular hardware to play games. They…

Apple's stuff _always_ have issues and annoying ones. My Homepod stopped seeing any HomeKit devices. Reboot didn't help. I didn't feel like digging into it so I just went to bed. Couple days later out of all a sudden they start seeing stuff again.

Tell me about it.

My last three MacBooks, including the new 16” M1, have inexplicably had issues syncing to iCloud for several days (sometimes weeks) until magically everything seems to just work as expected and I forget all about it.

It’s all part of the magic of owning Apple devices. They’re annoyances, but minor and usually easy enough to fix.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#882

Post by maerF0x0 »

Annoyance, today I left my airpods when I left the hotel, I didnt get the left behind notification because I had the case with me. Phone + Case (and airpods not connected) doesnt seem like a good proxy for "You have your airpods"

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#883

Post by danShumway »

323 wrote: post #237
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How many people do you see using 2010 smartphones with replaceable batteries? How many 2010 smartphones have security updates that you can safely use? It's a chicken and egg problem. For every person that chases the shinny new thing there are plenty of people who don't care about that and just want to have minimal functions, phone, sms, video chat, some decent photos/video, and occasional online banking. However du…

For the last 6 years, the average number of new smartphones sold per year was 1.5 billion. There are 6.5 billion people with smartphones in the world. So that's at most a 4 year churn rate. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263437/global-smartphone... https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-w...

Aren't you kind of reinforcing GP's point?

Either your research is showing that people on average keep their phones longer than 4 years, which seems to line up well with the argument that they don't throw out their phones every 3-4 years for the best new features for no reason;

Or your research is showing that they do churn through at a 4 year rate, which seems to roughly line up with the average battery lifespan and security lifespan across the market. 3 years is right about the time period where I need to replace my phone battery. It would not surprise me at all to see stats that suggest that a lot of people keep their phones until the batteries are unusable or until they're no longer getting updates, and then swap to a new phone -- and across multiple manufacturers, I would not be surprised at all to see that work out to be a ~4 year churn rate, if not a little higher.

I'm not sure what this proves.

Anecdotally, I know more than a few people who prefer Apple devices specifically because of their longevity and support lifespan, so I don't think that the "we have to throw this out because a new phone got announced" characterization is universally true or even necessarily the most common consumer attitude.

I also know people who have bought new phones because the battery was getting weak. I have argued with them to take their phones to a repair shop and to pay $60 to replace the battery, but they felt weird doing that for whatever reason. I suspect some of that might come from the fear of having their phone broken during the repair process before a new one comes in, but that's pure speculation on my part.

And yeah, I also know a few people who have bought new phones just because they care about getting a slightly fancier camera. But I don't necessarily think they're the majority, and an average churn-rate of 4 years across the market would seem to reinforce that point more than anything else.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#884

Post by maerF0x0 »

I wish there was a "cast" (eg chromecast) style setup that could just connect to my headphones over wifi. Why cant I just stream music to my headphones and have the Mbps of throughput and range of my wifi? Similar to how I can with video to my TV

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#885

Post by zeusk »

mschuster91 wrote: post #854
p2t2p wrote: post #827

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's stuff _always_ have issues and annoying ones. My Homepod stopped seeing any HomeKit devices. Reboot didn't help. I didn't feel like digging into it so I just went to bed. Couple days later out of all a sudden they start seeing stuff again.

At least their issues are relatively benign compared to the hot mess that is Windows. Had to re-install a friend's Asus all-in-one PC last weekend and god this was not fun. Took over a day worth of downloading Windows updates, battling Realtek's audio driver and Intel's chipset drivers until everything was finally working as expected (and most of the drivers are from 2016 - only God knows how much exploit surface the…

Yeah, Apple is a breeze but only if you stay within the crib prison they put you in.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#886

Post by eternityforest »

nsxwolf wrote: post #733
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #47

I generally enjoy my AirPods. They are occasionally quirky, but most of the time they really do “just work” for me. The annoyances are annoying when they happen, though. The strangest part is that the annoyances aren’t getting any better over time. At first I assumed that they were growing pains of an early product launch. Yet now we’re years into the AirPods experience and they continue to be just as quirky as when…

I like "workarounds become a reflex". This is a very succinct way of describing one of the causes of why people often claim to have no issues using something that universally has issues. A great example is the gaming PC vs gaming console war. PC gamers often seem to refuse to admit there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system and modular hardware to play games. They…

The more minimalist a system is, the less people seem to think in terms of "annoyances". In fact, simplicity fans seem to pride themselves on doing a bit more themselves.

Like, manual transmission people think of the constant need to manage it yourself as just how driving is supposed to be.

It's a big problem in Linux, where things can totally break and nobody bats an eye.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#887

Post by davidmurdoch »

lanstin wrote: post #652
davidmurdoch wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How have consumers let companies get away with "premium" phones being the ones with fewer features?

Because it is, statistically, an easier and more pleasant experience. I really get tired of taking twenty minutes to configure a bunch of settings for each marginally novel piece of tech I acquire.

I've never had to configure my wired headphones before in my life. What kind of headphones do you have?!

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#888

Post by davidmurdoch »

Gigachad wrote: post #786
davidmurdoch wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How have consumers let companies get away with "premium" phones being the ones with fewer features?

Because I don't miss anything about old phones. Yes sometimes the airpods can work a little funny, but on a whole, they are so far ahead of the wired headphones I used to use that I can completely forgive the issues they have. Yeah it was cool to put an SD card in my phone, but it never worked that seamless and my phone now has more storage than I'll ever use.

Old? Phones still come with headphone jacks. They just cost less (and have slower hardware )

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#889

Post by crossroadsguy »

nsxwolf wrote: post #733
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #47

I generally enjoy my AirPods. They are occasionally quirky, but most of the time they really do “just work” for me. The annoyances are annoying when they happen, though. The strangest part is that the annoyances aren’t getting any better over time. At first I assumed that they were growing pains of an early product launch. Yet now we’re years into the AirPods experience and they continue to be just as quirky as when…

I like "workarounds become a reflex". This is a very succinct way of describing one of the causes of why people often claim to have no issues using something that universally has issues. A great example is the gaming PC vs gaming console war. PC gamers often seem to refuse to admit there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system and modular hardware to play games. They…

This sentiment is seen in almost every response on http://discussions.apple.com, on Apple's subreddits and often in HN comments as well.

People are just too eager to jump on behalf on Apple - "but why you would rather not do this instead" (Why? Because I was looking for something else and I mentioned it for heaven's sake!) and these hacks and workarounds stack up while "Apple products and services just work" stays where it was in such Apple users' imaginations.

This is frustratingly weird and quite niche to Apple's user-fans.

For instance Apple's online services - the whole iCloud charade is a living and growing mess.

The SMS sync between phone and mac and in fact difference of basic UX options ("you can't select multiple messages on Catalina Messages app - not sure if it is added in later versions -- if you delete an SMS on phone it will still be synced to your mac Messages). And there apps are opaque in the guise of "simplicity" you just end up getting frustrated. I can go on for hours. Now as an Apple fan - but why would you not want those SMS to sync to mac as well? Yes, even if you delete them! What's the use of multiple message selection on mac Messages app - that's bad use case! Yes, yes, even though it is supported on iPhone - you don't get it!

The problem is the essential duopoly - Android and iOS - rock and a hard place.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#890

Post by lqr »

asdff wrote: post #812
lqr wrote: post #777

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If by "unprotected" you mean "no green arrow", in what part of the LA area is it feasible to avoid unprotected lefts? They are all over the place in my neighborhood. If by "unprotected" you mean a left from a stop sign onto a street that does not stop, then I agree. They can be almost impossible. Waze was especially notorious for them a few years ago.

The latter I mean. "Take a left on pico from this stop sign, hold your breath and good luck, no one will let you in." Somehow google maps ignores these and prefers me to make a right out of a parking lot or a stop signed street and take my lefts at lights (or off the major arterial) seems like its just a simple set of rules you can apply to your navigation algorithm to avoid these entirely, but the fact that they are…

It does seem like it should be simple to avoid those. I can imagine it might be complicated if the model treats turns as instantaneous and only considers edges in the road graph as taking time.

I would love a road navigation tool that gives more options to modify the cost of various route features other than pure distance/traffic. To me, Google is too willing to give a complicated route to save a tiny amount of time. It makes the driving more mentally draining. I would raise the cost of all turns, stop signs, and intersections where I don't have priority.

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