7 ms·

Hopefully the delay is a chance for the product designers to go back to the drawing board. I simply cannot fathom why anyone would want to own a pair.

by UVB-76 10y ago

tarikjn 10y ago
Would you mind elaborating the flaws you see in them? Curious to see other point of views. Personally, I am more of an in-ear earphones user, so I am more drawn to e.g. Bragi earphones, but even then I am missing the option of custom in-ear moulds, so I am sticking with shure audio drivers + Westone bluetooth cable. I do welcome Apple entrance because I could see how they might be able to push development of the sector and some advances.
- UVB-76 10y ago
  I also prefer in-ear headphones when out and about, so would compare the AirPods to something like the Klipsch S4i [1] Compared to the Klipsch earphones, the AirPods: 1) Are more than twice as expensive ($159 vs. $69) 2) Have significantly worse sound quality 3) Look ugly as sin; wired earphones like the Klipsch ones look just fine, and come in colors other than white 4) Require regular charging (only 5 hours of listening time); wired earphones require no charging at all 5) Are considerably easier to lose or misplace (either one or both) 6) Will have a finite life, as the battery wears out; standard wired earphones will last forever if you look after them 7) Are only compatible with current generation Apple devices; standard wired earphones have universal compatibility 8) Will likely be depreciated within a couple of generations of Apple products; wired earphones will endure [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00264GYMG/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00264GYMG/
  - djrogers 10y ago
    While the klipsch headphones have wires, and don't have beam-forming noise cancelling mics. Different strokes....
  - 10a352766262 10y ago
    Compared to landline telephones, cell phones: 1) Are more than twice as expensive 2) Have significantly worse sound quality 3) Look ugly as sin; wired telephones look just fine 4) Require regular charging; wired telephones require no charging at all 5) Are considerably easier to lose or misplace 6) Will have a finite life, as the battery wears out; standard wired telephones will last forever if you look after them 7) Are only compatible with current generation cellular networks; standard wired telephones have universal compatibility 8) Will likely be depreciated within a couple of generations; wired telephones will endure
  - brodie 10y ago
    The sound quality of the EarPods, which presumably the AirPods are based on, is good but definitely a very subjective thing. I've found them to be excellent for the price/form factor. Things I like: - Great, deep bass response (when you position them to create a good seal between your ears and the outside world). - Reasonably detailed mids. - Somewhat diminished but still relatively detailed highs. - Comfortable for wearing for long periods of time. - Isolation isn't too strong, even with a good seal (helpful for maintaining situational awareness). My only complaint is that between different pairs, the ability to get a comfortable seal can be inconsistent. However, I wouldn't consider them high end, and while their lack of noise isolation can be a downside at times, given the cost and the excellent bass and overall clarity, I think they're a great earphones. If the AirPods have better SQ, that'd be awesome; but if they have the same sound quality but without the wires and with good (and hopefully passthrough when possible) audio compression, I'll be eager to buy a pair. And I think as more and more people wear them, they'll quickly become fashionable to wear. On a related note, I hope Apple and others are eventually able to move to lossless, even lower latency compression for wireless audio. I absolutely love the lossless compression the AirPort Express provides via AirPlay.
intopieces 10y ago
You don't see any merit to beam-forming microphones for noise cancellation, seamless paring experience, Siri access, other-earphone awareness, or lack of tangled wires? You don't remember how iconic the white earbuds have been as a status symbol? It's fine, and even expected, to say, "This product doesn't fit my use-case." But to be unable to fathom why any person on the earth would want to buy the product... that takes a total disconnection from headphones as a category of device, and I'm not willing to believe that's true.
- agumonkey 10y ago
  My biggest complaints is that they are in-ear. I really wonder how they will stay in place outside of a desk chair or a couch. At least with a cable you had a chance to catch it when it fell. An ear-clip version would be great.
  - jonlucc 10y ago
    I'm sympathetic to that concern, but I've heard reporters say they don't really fall out without the cord tugging at them.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - djrogers 10y ago
    Then perhaps you should read any of the many reviews by people who have had preproduction units... They pretty strongly lean towards them being comfortable and hard to dislodge - to a surprising extent. Tests in reviews I've seen have included running, dancing, headbanging, and jumping up and down intentionally trying to dislodge them. Seems that the fact there's no cord to pull on them, and all of the mass is inside your ear makes them pretty stable.
    - agumonkey 10y ago
      I didn't see preprod reviews. I'll dig for it.
fiatpandas 10y ago
9 times out of 10, "I can't fathom why anyone would want product X" can be swapped with "I don't want product X." It's often used due to mental laziness or lack of empathy. I personally don't want a pair either, but I can certainly imagine why it appeals to people.
- UVB-76 10y ago
  It's not for lack of effort. I've racked my brains and I simply cannot understand why anyone would prefer these to existing wired or wireless headphones.
  - manarth 10y ago
    "I simply cannot understand why anyone would prefer these to existing wireless headphones." One example: people with a major investment in the Apple eco-system. Pair it once with your iPhone, and it's also paired with your laptop, with your iPad, with your iPod, etc. I've had plenty of frustrations trying to get bluetooth headsets to pair with a single device, let alone multiple devices, so anything that makes that easier is valuable to me. How valuable is another question: another $10, another $50, another $100? That's pricing for the market to decide. I can recognise the technical improvement, which just leaves the question of the monetary value of that improvement.
Steko 10y ago
The designers didn't design one set of headphones and say "we're done, sell it Phil". They designed a bunch of models and then they iterated on the best received of those until they had something better than the competition. If you can't fathom why anyone would want them how do you explain the consistently positive reviews?
lukifer 10y ago
For me it's simple: I wear earphones a lot, I'm sick of dangling wires, and I find earpods comfortable (I don't like the style of Bluetooth earbuds that wedge in tight). And because I'll use them 90% for spoken word content, the audio quality is acceptable. The only thing I don't like is the loss of volume and track controls. I'm hoping a software update will eventually address that.

Hopefully the delay is a chance for the product designers to go back to the drawing board. I simply cannot fathom why anyone would want to own a pair.

by UVB-76 10y ago

Hopefully the delay is a chance for the product designers to go back to the drawing board. I simply cannot fathom why anyone would want to own a pair.

tarikjn 10y ago

Would you mind elaborating the flaws you see in them? Curious to see other point of views. Personally, I am more of an in-ear earphones user, so I am more drawn to e.g. Bragi earphones, but even then I am missing the option of custom in-ear moulds, so I am sticking with shure audio drivers + Westone bluetooth cable. I do welcome Apple entrance because I could see how they might be able to push development of the sector and some advances.

UVB-76 10y ago
I also prefer in-ear headphones when out and about, so would compare the AirPods to something like the Klipsch S4i [1] Compared to the Klipsch earphones, the AirPods: 1) Are more than twice as expensive ($159 vs. $69) 2) Have significantly worse sound quality 3) Look ugly as sin; wired earphones like the Klipsch ones look just fine, and come in colors other than white 4) Require regular charging (only 5 hours of listening time); wired earphones require no charging at all 5) Are considerably easier to lose or misplace (either one or both) 6) Will have a finite life, as the battery wears out; standard wired earphones will last forever if you look after them 7) Are only compatible with current generation Apple devices; standard wired earphones have universal compatibility 8) Will likely be depreciated within a couple of generations of Apple products; wired earphones will endure [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00264GYMG/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00264GYMG/
- djrogers 10y ago
  While the klipsch headphones have wires, and don't have beam-forming noise cancelling mics. Different strokes....
- 10a352766262 10y ago
  Compared to landline telephones, cell phones: 1) Are more than twice as expensive 2) Have significantly worse sound quality 3) Look ugly as sin; wired telephones look just fine 4) Require regular charging; wired telephones require no charging at all 5) Are considerably easier to lose or misplace 6) Will have a finite life, as the battery wears out; standard wired telephones will last forever if you look after them 7) Are only compatible with current generation cellular networks; standard wired telephones have universal compatibility 8) Will likely be depreciated within a couple of generations; wired telephones will endure
- brodie 10y ago
  The sound quality of the EarPods, which presumably the AirPods are based on, is good but definitely a very subjective thing. I've found them to be excellent for the price/form factor. Things I like: - Great, deep bass response (when you position them to create a good seal between your ears and the outside world). - Reasonably detailed mids. - Somewhat diminished but still relatively detailed highs. - Comfortable for wearing for long periods of time. - Isolation isn't too strong, even with a good seal (helpful for maintaining situational awareness). My only complaint is that between different pairs, the ability to get a comfortable seal can be inconsistent. However, I wouldn't consider them high end, and while their lack of noise isolation can be a downside at times, given the cost and the excellent bass and overall clarity, I think they're a great earphones. If the AirPods have better SQ, that'd be awesome; but if they have the same sound quality but without the wires and with good (and hopefully passthrough when possible) audio compression, I'll be eager to buy a pair. And I think as more and more people wear them, they'll quickly become fashionable to wear. On a related note, I hope Apple and others are eventually able to move to lossless, even lower latency compression for wireless audio. I absolutely love the lossless compression the AirPort Express provides via AirPlay.

intopieces 10y ago

You don't see any merit to beam-forming microphones for noise cancellation, seamless paring experience, Siri access, other-earphone awareness, or lack of tangled wires? You don't remember how iconic the white earbuds have been as a status symbol? It's fine, and even expected, to say, "This product doesn't fit my use-case." But to be unable to fathom why any person on the earth would want to buy the product... that takes a total disconnection from headphones as a category of device, and I'm not willing to believe that's true.

agumonkey 10y ago
My biggest complaints is that they are in-ear. I really wonder how they will stay in place outside of a desk chair or a couch. At least with a cable you had a chance to catch it when it fell. An ear-clip version would be great.
- jonlucc 10y ago
  I'm sympathetic to that concern, but I've heard reporters say they don't really fall out without the cord tugging at them.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- djrogers 10y ago
  Then perhaps you should read any of the many reviews by people who have had preproduction units... They pretty strongly lean towards them being comfortable and hard to dislodge - to a surprising extent. Tests in reviews I've seen have included running, dancing, headbanging, and jumping up and down intentionally trying to dislodge them. Seems that the fact there's no cord to pull on them, and all of the mass is inside your ear makes them pretty stable.
  - agumonkey 10y ago
    I didn't see preprod reviews. I'll dig for it.

fiatpandas 10y ago

9 times out of 10, "I can't fathom why anyone would want product X" can be swapped with "I don't want product X." It's often used due to mental laziness or lack of empathy. I personally don't want a pair either, but I can certainly imagine why it appeals to people.

UVB-76 10y ago
It's not for lack of effort. I've racked my brains and I simply cannot understand why anyone would prefer these to existing wired or wireless headphones.
- manarth 10y ago
  "I simply cannot understand why anyone would prefer these to existing wireless headphones." One example: people with a major investment in the Apple eco-system. Pair it once with your iPhone, and it's also paired with your laptop, with your iPad, with your iPod, etc. I've had plenty of frustrations trying to get bluetooth headsets to pair with a single device, let alone multiple devices, so anything that makes that easier is valuable to me. How valuable is another question: another $10, another $50, another $100? That's pricing for the market to decide. I can recognise the technical improvement, which just leaves the question of the monetary value of that improvement.

Steko 10y ago

The designers didn't design one set of headphones and say "we're done, sell it Phil". They designed a bunch of models and then they iterated on the best received of those until they had something better than the competition. If you can't fathom why anyone would want them how do you explain the consistently positive reviews?

lukifer 10y ago

For me it's simple: I wear earphones a lot, I'm sick of dangling wires, and I find earpods comfortable (I don't like the style of Bluetooth earbuds that wedge in tight). And because I'll use them 90% for spoken word content, the audio quality is acceptable. The only thing I don't like is the loss of volume and track controls. I'm hoping a software update will eventually address that.