So why is it most conversations focus on the AirTag? What is it that the AirTag does better/worse/differently to the other options out there?
AirTags have a huge advantage in that they use ALL iPhones as part of the tracking network, regardless of whether the iPhone owner has an AirTag themself. This allows them to work over short ranges with a tiny battery as they only need to be close enough to any iPhone for them to be trackable.
AirTags are (at least as far as I can tell) maybe a bit easier to use for this purpose than other tech, but that's not quite the point: we didn't have these discussions earlier because people didn't realise they were discussions we needed to have.
As another data point, I've met several people who put AirTags on their dogs, and have been disappointed by how poorly they've worked: if the dog runs off and there's no-one with an iPhone around, the AirTag is no help. I have a battery-powered GPS and GPRS tracker on my dog, which works just about anywhere. The AirTag-using dog owners just don't know these things exist.
Similar products like Tile have existed for years, but their real-time tracking abilities are poor because they rely on a network of devices that have their app installed and running in the background.
That said, I think these concerns are way overblown and coverage/conversation is largely driven by a larger narrative pushed by news outlets.
The other comments (eg about Apple popularising the tech and discussing how AirTags differs from existing solutions) explains this situation.
- No network connectivity required, simply being near an iPhone creates location accuracy (so instantly a bigger network than any competitor)
Probably the two biggest things right there.