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Comment by zpeti | Hacker News Reader

Funny how there's so much criticism everywhere for these products yet you step outside and loads of people have them. Usual reaction to Apple products I guess.

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Is it possible that the people criticizing them are not the people buying them?

Possible, although I know I thought they were nonsense before I got mine.

This was my experience with Apple products from like 2003-2010 when I finally decided I should just accept that regardless of my first impression, I was going to like most Apple stuff once I tried it out.

I'm always surprised how many people haven't come to that conclusion.

They seem to not know the first thing about them, either.

I have a feeling it’s more of an emotional self-rightous rant similar to the ones people have when picking their favorite football team or car brand. I’ve read many of the anti apple comments around here - and most of the criticisms have solid reasoning. But, I still got a new MacBook Pro, and low and behold it works great.

It’s a law of the universe that any forum filled with tech nerds makes apple product discussion a waste of time.

All Wireless, Less Space than a Ralyin, Lame....

Edit: Oh well the reference is almost 20 years old. I knew someone wouldn't know it.

https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-i...

Good rule of thumb: if it's an Apple product, divide its US market share by 2 or even 4 and you get its maximum world wide market share :)

A lot of this is very US-specific.

Not true everywhere. Take the iPhone for example, it is at 50% market share in Japan which higher than the US I guess.

And here's the other comment that appears in every HN thread about a new Apple product. Just need someone to complain that Apple forgot about its pro users and I'll have a bingo.

AirPods have a lot of criticism? I would understand that if you made the same claim about iMac, Mac mini, iPad mini, i9 MacBook Pro or the stupid butterfly keyboards.

AirPods sold 36 million units and everyone and their grandma got it on Christmas. They have been sold at most holidays.

I personally think this is one of the best device Apple has created in a long time. It’s not for everyone but once you get used to it, you won’t go anywhere without them.

I know more people with knock-off Airpods than the actual Apple-branded ones.

Yeah, I was shocked by how many teenagers in my neighborhood had them until I realized they were all knock-offs. I doubt Apple is concerned, though. Airpods solidified their dominance of earbud design

Knockoffs? Having shopped for AirPods for my kids, and also shocked by the price, I'd be eager to hear more. Most of the other brands use an "in ear" design which my kids wouldn't like (ex: AirDots)

I mean their overpriced and look absolutely stupid. Airpods seem to be entirely an US thing and a result of great marketing. If anyone could convince people to buy and wear this it would be apple in USA.

>I mean their overpriced

They're literally best in class for the money.

I presume you have a source for this absurd claim?

Source: No other wireless headphones match the features for the price. You're welcome to present a challenger.

I don't think I have ever seen anyone with them in person.

Apple removed headphone jacks from their phones, so some AirPod owners probably would have been happy to not own them and continue with traditional headphones.

If you are a fan of this earbud design they package a pair with a lightning connector in every iphone.

Apple has successfully turned the airpods into a fashion/status symbol, which was their goal. "only smelly android users have headphones with a CORD"

To be fair, airpods ended up being a lot more convenient than I imagined before trying them. I still carry around my tin audio t2s for when I'll be listening to music for an extended period of time. But in most cases, the convenience of not dealing with a cord and being able to pause/skip with a tap outweighs the loss in sound quality.

With the old wired ones you can also play/pause/skip/change volume/use a mic/whisper your fantasies to siri/etc. I mean all you really get with these is not having to deal with 2.5' of wire, at the cost of having to charge them and the whole $160 business

Are you talking about the earpods? I just bought the iPhone XR and I got the earpods but I didn't see any lightning adaptor. Now I have two earphones, one that only works on my phone and another that only works on my laptop - it's a real pain.

Perhaps it's an XR thing. My X and my wife's new XS both had the adapter.

Look on the back of the EarPods. It's attached to the cardboard carrier.

> my wife's new XS

Are you sure about that? I’m pretty sure iPhone XS didn’t come with this.

XS max owner, I did not get an adapter with mine.

Apple has been doing that with headphones ever since the iPod came out. iPod commercials featured black silhouetted people with the bright white headphone and cord contrasted on top[0]. Like AirPods today, it used to be a status symbol to have white headphones as that basically meant they came from Apple.

[0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlHUz99l-eo

Yes. These commercials are what I was thinking about in this thread. Apple was marketing the CORD as a status symbol a decade ago.

Maybe, but I’ve also never met another person who wanted to go back to regular headphones after wearing AirPods.

I did for listening to music during workouts. They do not like being drenched in sweat from spin workouts :)

There are wired headphones included in every iPhone box.

Anyone who bought an iPhone without a headphone jack got a pair of Lightning compatible wired headphones in the box.

If they bought Airpods they decided against using those headphones, getting a Lightning-headphone adapter to use with their favorite wired headphones, or buying any other type of bluetooth headphones.

I would have bought AirPods regardless of an audio jack (I love them to death), but am furious about the removal nonetheless. It isn't often that I find myself needing the jack, but whenever I do it's infuriating, either to have to go hunt for the adapter, or to just not have the ability to export audio at all in that circumstance.

It isn't often that we achieve a universal connector format with basically no downsides (how many iterations of USB have there been now?), but we actually accomplished it with the 1/8" audio jack, and it's exasperating to see that coordination equity be so "bravely" discarded.

I am in the same boat. I am still using my iPhone 6 because of the headphone jack. But I have AirPods and use them daily. Not going to upgrade phone until USB-C is an option (maybe never?).

I use to teach fitness classes even before the iPhone was a thing. Even then I used a 30 pin to 1/8" adapter so I could get line level output. I also had a cassette adapter with a 30 pin connector for my car. I could hit fast forward and rewind on the cassette player and it would fast forward the audio on the iPod. When I took the adapter out or stopped the car, the iPod stopped. Of course these days even my cheap low end car has Bluetooth.

I would just carry a lightning to headphone cord (not adapter) if I were still teaching.

No, Apple had a vision for perfect usability. It had no wires for the ear pods so no need for a standard jack.

Those people could have easily....

A) used the included lightning headphones

B) used the lightning adapter that come with the iPhones until this year and are now $9.99 and used any other headphones

C) used third party lightning headphones

D) used any BT headphones.

No one was forced to buy $160 Airpods.

Many people using something is only a direct indication of popularity, assuming the reason for said popularity without external information is wrong.

I'm not sure where you are from but there is a high chance what you see is not representative.

Also, Baader-Meinhof phenomenon and all that.

Apple is a lifestyle brand now, the technology aspect of their products is irrelevant to many of their customers.

AirPods are so convenient compared to wired earbuds for me, I’d say they’re in my top 3 electronics purchases of last year. They’re not simply a “lifestyle brand” as you’re dismissing them as.

Apple products are lifestyle-brand, that's why you compared AirPods to wired earbuds despite the fact there were many AirPods-like products from other brands and Chinese no-brands before AirPods - you just didn't care until Apple announce their own version.

No. Other brands have weird Bluetooth bugs, sketchy reliability (compared to generally rock solid Apple products), or don’t integrate nearly as tightly with my iPhone.

I didn’t buy them because they’re a “lifestyle”, I bought them because they’re the best on the market.

Point me to a truly wireless, charging-from-case set of earbuds released before AirPods.

I'll wait.

Bragi Dash

https://youtu.be/o-SIreqSrIY

I mean, these were literally 76% more expensive ($299) than AirPods ($169) at launch with similar BT quality according to reviews.

I had Bragi Dash headphones and took them back within 24 hours. The set up took me like 4 hours. Then the sound quality was so terrible it made my head spin....the sound quality was noticeably worse than even my earpods at the time. Also you had to have your phone in your right pocket otherwise you'd lose the connection. Walk three feet away and also lose connection.

The reviews are not great for Bragi Dash headphones at that time either. I though people were just hating but it turns out the reviews were accurate in this case.

Apple products _are_ a lifestyle brand, and my lifestyle is buying a charger without worrying that it's a crappy piece of shit that will overheat and set my house on fire, or setting up a new system without downloading and installing a bunch of drivers by hand, and being able to walk into one of three flagship stores in Toronto for service, or any of a dozen authorized service centres.

Some people enjoy being their own sysadmins and customizers. That's their lifestyle choice. Every product choice is a lifestyle choice.

No, they're not the same, they're the first bluetooth device that I've used that actually works flawlessly enough to be worth using at all. It has nothing to do with aesthetic design.

Do you somehow imply that wireless earbuds didn't exist lol? We've had them for _years_. I used to go to the pool with a set that was also _water-proof_ like 3 years ago, watch out for the _new_ waterproof airpods coming out!

Opinion:

Being deeply into buying "the most powerful technology," or "the most customizable technology" is also a lifestyle choice and tribal signalling choice.

There is no "I'm above choosing things for their lifestyle or tribe membership implications" position to take.

I own QC35 and some Jaybirds X3. Went back and forth on buying the AirPods forever. Figured it'd be a waste of money. Did it anyway.

I LOVE them. Single-ear is the killer use for me, I used them bike commuting in my non-traffic ear, and i frequently listen to a podcast in just one ear. It sounds stupid, but it's SO much more convenient than having another bud dangling from a cord like I'd have to with the Jaybirds.

And the difference between a hard plastic case and a floppy vinyl carrying pouch is the difference between something that is part of my every day kit, in my pants pocket, and something that sits.. at home.. in a drawer, probably. Somewhere. I have no idea where, frankly.

If you look at it through the status symbol / fashion statement lens it kind of make sense though.

Afaik other companies make similarly priced wireless buds with better sound quality and similar battery life.

Huh? I think people buy these despite them looking a little goofy because they are quite convienent. Which company offers the best wireless pods in your mind?

Any recommendations? I’m also in the market for a pair of wireless noise canceling headphones.

Bose QC35

Check out the Sony WH1000XM3. Ugly name but great noise cancelling, the sound quality is so much better than Bose, and I'm a big fan of the design. USB-C charging and very long battery life.

I would also suggest check out Bowers and Wilkins PX. Built like a tank and sound amazing.

I haven't heard of others with connectivity that is even close. The fact that the airpods simply work, even long distances from my charging phone in the office, make them very valuable to me.

I don't think that's the use case of all the < 18 years old getting in/out of the school I pass by daily on my way to work but welp.

You create the use case of needing extra range while charging the phone because audio over bluetooth significantly reduce the battery life in the first place. You shouldn't need to charge at the office even if you called non stop from 9 to 5.

Phone in pocket + wired headphones = unlimited range and > 20 hrs talk time.

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