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Comment by apsdsm | Hacker News Reader

I don't think they see this as a music device either. I think they see it as a way of making money from their decision to remove the audio jack from the phone.

That said, you're spot on with your forecasts of how great this could be, the AR of audio is potentially awesome.

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That's such a cynical, boring view. I'm sorry, but it is.

You really think that Apple removed the headphone jack to make a bit more cash? Seriously? Hand-on-heart honestly, you think that's why? Come on.

I think it's because they love cool new things. Thank fk they do because, frankly, nobody else seems to be doing anything interesting. I know, I know, they're not perfect. AirPods are late. They're expensive. I know.

But I guarantee you that, come 2020, you will be hard pushed to find a set of wired headphones that resemble those we wear today. I would bet my current net worth on it†. The time has come to do new things with headphones. You want to call them "magical"? Maybe not. But a tiny thing that sits in my ear, Star Trek style, that I can tap and talk to Siri, that detects when I'm talking, that mutes itself, that swaps between paired devices seamlessly, that charges in a little tic-tac case, that's cool. That's what the world wants. It's certainly what I want.

But hey, I guess we can just assume they're trying to scrape a few more dollars out of everyone. Yep, that's probably what this is about.

(†Not currently all that much, but hey.)

It can be both; one good reason to make something cool is to make money from it.

There is nothing wrong with cynical view. I have zero problems with bluetooth speakers and earbuds... yet many people find them irritating to pair and not very user friendly.

Siri sucks. Once you've spoken to Google via "Ok Google" you quickly realize how bad Siri is.

The world doesn't need Airpods. I get that you want them, but the overwhelming majority in the _world_ can not afford Airpod. I would bet that sales of Airpods will be as transparent as the iWatch... as in completely opaque.

Anyone who can afford an iPhone can afford AirPods.

Coincidentally the Apple Watch is the best selling and most profitable Smart Watch on sale now.

And it overtook all other regular watchmakers, except for Rolex, in sales: http://wornandwound.com/apple-second-rolex-worldwide-sales-m...

Apple doesn't make products for "the world", they make products for well-off people who have the cash to spend. "The World" still uses sub-$100 Android phones or dumbphones and will do so for the foreseeable future.

Counter: do you think if removing the headphone jack made the product better but net cost Apple money do you think they would have done it? Of course not. It can be both.

They would have just put the price up. Ref: MacBook Pro Late 2016.

    But I guarantee you that, come 2020, you will be hard pushed to find a set of wired headphones that resemble those we wear today.

Yup, commenting just in case I really want to see if this prediction pans out in only three years: wired earbuds will no longer be sold. Oh! You said, "found". Oh, OK, "found"

I'm biased. When I want to put on earphones, I want to hear, not be heard. That's the primary function. Not to be some bizarre com. THESE Airbuds are totally useless to me, even if I have a device that supports them. Can I take them running, or cycling? That's a good majority of my "not sleeping, not working" time. I don't need another attempt at augmented reality, I need to remember I used to go to places to talk to people, not manipulate a screen, or talk to a computer assistant.

I remember when Bluetooth headsets came out. They were decidedly not cool. Like, "look at the crazy person talking to themself while walking" not cool.

    (†Not currently all that much, but hey.)

It's more than me. I'm taking the bet.

Oh, I still fully expect to be wearing the updated version of my Audio Technica ATH-M50s in 2020. When I'm sitting at home, listening to music.

But when I'm out and about, cycling to work, listening to a podcast on the train, at work on a conference call? The AirPods are going to be amazing for that sort of thing. That's what I mean by "hard pushed to find a set of wired headphones that resemble those we wear today".

I wasn't clear in my frothing rage, for which I apologise. ;-)

> You really think that Apple removed the headphone jack to make a bit more cash? Seriously? Hand-on-heart honestly, you think that's why? Come on.

Yes.

And honestly, if you think a big company like Apple does anything without the motivation of making money, then frankly you're being starry-eyed and naive.

Maybe if they were a little start-up or something, sure, I could buy that argument. But yes, I entirely, whole-heartedly believe that Apple is doing this for money. If not, why not release the air pods first, then release a few generations of iPhones with audio jacks? It's not like having that little hole in the bottom of a phone would stop Apple from generating more "magical" technology.

I don't doubt Apple thinks that air pods are cool, but come on, seriously.

Of course apple is motivated by making money, but their profits come mostly from selling new devices, not pissing off existing customers by building features to squeeze cash out of existing customers.

So do you really think they will jeopardize sales of their most profitable iphone devices to squeeze some extra cash from a niche earpod device?

Apple's justification for removing the headphone jack is that it helps make the iPhone 7 water resistant and thinner (so increases the premium feel). Both of these features add value so potentially raise the selling price. The lack of headphone jack makes a wireless audio solution necessary. Apple have attempted to turn this weakness into a strength with their new class of headphones (earbuds). Apple may seek to make these distinctive earbuds fashionable like the original white earphones of the iPod. Apply must surely have calculated that the additional profit from customers that gain value from the iPhone 7 plus earbuds outweighs lost profit from irate former customers otherwise their behaviour is irrational.

Your analysis is basically correct, but it should also include a time dimension. Apple likely has a version of the iPhone in development 1-3 generations out that absolutely will not have space for a wired headphone jack. They probably have also reasoned that future AR capability will require wireless to be usable. Apple has in the past reasoned that kickstarting an ecosystem of accessories and consumer behaviors earlier than they technically need to has long term benefits to the sale of future devices.

Actually the iphone 7 is such a device. The space previously taken up by the jack is now used for the taptic engine under the capacitive home button.

Also water proofing.

The iPhone 7 does take advantage of the saved space. I was envisioning very thin, by today's standards, devices, or eventually full AR, where maintaining a wired connection to the main device would be impossible or extremely cumbersome.

No one I know uses Siri, by the way. I've literally never heard anyone in the office ask Siri a question. Never heard it in public, either. It's not really a thing outside of the tech bubble, I reckon.

I'm positive most people will still be using cheap wired headphones 3 years from now. If you're willing to lay money on it, I'll take any bet you offer.

They should. She's okay.

Today:

- "Call John Smith on speaker"

- "What's 110 pounds in kilograms?"

Both simple, granted, but both got me what I wanted much quicker than I could have done manually.

I never use Siri in public because it's weird being overheard. But I often use it in private.

I'm not a morning person so I usually have 6 alarms on my phone. So every morning I ask my Siri to "turn off all the alarms" before I jump on my shower.

There is like 4-5 others simple interactions like that that I do in private every day and it's totally worthwhile.

Fun fact, siri happily does this when the phone is unlocked so you can happily screw with someone who has M-F alarms set up and doesn't usually turn them off.

"Hey siri, delete all my alarms"

"Hey Siri, remind me to call Grandma when I get home" (while driving and I remembered something I need to speak to her about)

A simple press of a button on my BT headset (Sony btw, not Apple) and "Call my wife" is a lot easier in the winter than digging out my phone, removing my glove for TouchID and browsing to my wife's contact in the phone app.

A quick shout of "Hey Siri, set timer for 12 minutes" while cooking is faster than fiddling with the kitchen timer - which I had lost. Again.

Also "What's the weather like tomorrow morning" when I come home to see if I need to plug in my car heater for the night or not.

There are just some things that are faster spoken to a digital assistant (Siri, Cortana or Google Assistant) than done by tapping on a screen.

On the other hand, tapping the screen is a lot more appropriate in public than asking "Navigate to my proctologist appointment" :P

I'm very interested in buying these and I have a headphone jack so I don't think it's purely a money thing, but obviously 159$ is quite expense (though so are most bluetooth earbuds that are likely not as nice as these in some ways)

But they might be nicer in other ways.

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