
Apple is not a technology company - hariis
https://medium.com/chris-messina/silicon-valley-is-all-wrong-about-the-airpods-8204ede08f0f
======
jmfayard
> Apple doesn’t give a shit about neckbeard hipsters who spent thousands of
> dollars on expensive audiophile gear that rely on 100-year-old technology to
> transmit audio signals.

Is that stance from a reductio ad absurdum contest? Like nobody ever use with
great success an humble audio cable for non expensive audio stuff in the real
world outside the silicon valley?

My modest proposal : if you really want to remove an more than often annoying
150-years old technology that we don't realize yet we don't really need it

... remove the Phone from the iPhone

~~~
hugenerd
that is called an iPod touch.

~~~
WalterSear
No data.

------
polartx
I was really excited about some aspects of AirPods, like the IR sensor that
could detect whether you had them in, and pause audio accordingly.

Then I saw a photo of what wearing AirPods looks like from the front
([http://www.iostipsandtricks.biz/wp-
content/uploads/1473/7957...](http://www.iostipsandtricks.biz/wp-
content/uploads/1473/7957d419aacdf6a.jpg))

Apple will still sell a mountain of them, because Apple is really good at
changing peoples' perceptions of what looks bad, to looking good. The Apple
watch is a perfect example. Square watches with rubber bands never looked
cool. Motorola innovated a round digital face with the Moto360, and Apple
responds with a square digital watch, with a rubber band.

~~~
coldtea
> _Then I saw a photo of what wearing AirPods looks like from the front_

Compared to what? Not wearing in ear headphones at all? Because with all of
them you look the same, just with cables dangling too...

~~~
hota_mazi
Have to admit it's the first time I see headphones that make you look like you
inserted tampons in your ears.

~~~
coldtea
Yeah, so that look should be avoided if you're 13 years old, because other
kids will laugh at you since tampons are funny because its women stuff. /s

------
phodo
I made this comment before - the real value of the airpods is the foundational
work for VR snd other things that go on your head. Wireless is critical. I
have a hololens and DK2 beta, and the difference between untethered and
tethered is hYOOOOGE. Airpods are v1.0 that will figure out latency issues,
push the limits on bandwidth, push sensor capabilities, explore onboard DSP
functions, gather data to feed into machine learning models for head and other
behaviors, etc. It is the "scout" that is deployed deep in enemy territory to
lay the foundation for the cavalry's entry into what will emerge as one or
more multibillion dollar markets (e.g. VR, new interface paradigms, brain
computers that plug into the cortex :).

Apple is fantastic about introducing a foundational technology that people
puzzle over, and then follow that MVP with a set of killer, well understood
features for the mass market that leverage it (touch id followed by apple
pay). To summarize:

* v1: Introduce puzzling HW/SW enabling technology disguised as a feature / roadmap swimlane, to work out the kinks, de-risk the technology.

* v2: Introduce clear-as-daylight applications for the mass market that leverage earlier work.

Look at the early days of AirPlay. I recall streaming wireless music to my
speakers back in the mid 2000s, and how buggy it was / how much latency there
was. Lo and behold, many iterations later, and we have seamless audio and
video airplay (ok, almost seamless). What makes me an expert on this stuff?
Nothing, other than thinking about it and using it for many hours. This has
nothing to do with jewelry.

------
aetherson
Well, that writing style certainly is calculated to make me think that the
author is a douche.

As to the substance of the argument: if your basic point is connecting AirPods
to the Apple Watch, then man, you're really begging the question. I suppose
it's possible that the watch will eventually become a big success, but it just
has not yet.

(I was also amused to see the gold Edition watch ad in there -- the gold has
been discontinued and the Edition has gotten a 90% price break).

~~~
coldtea
> _Well, that writing style certainly is calculated to make me think that the
> author is a douche._

Funny thing, people name-calling others "a douche" for their writing does the
exact same thing to me. Meta, huh?

> _I suppose it 's possible that the watch will eventually become a big
> success, but it just has not yet._

Big success compared to what? It already outsold all smart-waches 10 to 1, and
is the number #2 watch brand (overall) in the world in sales. And that's in
its first iteration, and from a company that never made watches before, and
when technology (battery, etc) is still immature for most of things one could
add. To contrast, it took several years for the iPod to be that succesful.

If that's failure, I'd like to see what success is like.

~~~
aetherson
What success looks like for the Apple Watch:

Apple disclosing how many units they have sold.

Apple moving to a 12 month release cycle.

Anyone besides people who were emotionally invested in its success from pre-
launch thinking that it's a success.

~~~
coldtea
> _Apple disclosing how many units they have sold._

Apple does that selectively, and doesn't say how units they sell for many
products. Including highly succesful ones. Besides, he have estimations, and
are all big numbers for a watch, so?

> _Apple moving to a 12 month release cycle._

That doesn't make any sense. A watch is not something people buy every few
years, like phones have been since forever (also thanks to subscription
contracts people have to pay for phones anyway which subsidize part of the
cost).

Not are they like laptops which people change every 4-6 years because new
machines are much faster and come with new connections and stuff (SSDs over
HDs, thunderbolt, retina displays, etc). Besides people have started updating
laptops that much the last 5 years or so, as CPUs hit a plateu that's been
good enough for most.

Even when there are some breakthroughs to show for it (like this model's more
capable cpu/battery, the waterproofing, etc), people won't just buy another
$300 or more smartwatch in 12 months, heck not even in 2-3 years.

This means Apple's best move is to put out new models at the pace when they
have enough interesting tech/changes to add. A new release in 12 months wont
have that, and even if it had them it would be too fast a cycle for repeat
buyers.

> _Anyone besides people who were emotionally invested in its success from
> pre-launch thinking that it 's a success._

The markets shows it's a success.

~~~
aetherson
Yes, Apple is selective with the products they disclose unit sales for:
specifically, they tell the ones that are big successes.

As to release cycles: If people won't pay another $300 in 2 years for a watch,
no matter how much the internals change, that certainly does put a cap on the
consumer enthusiasm for said watch, doesn't it?

~~~
coldtea
> _As to release cycles: If people won 't pay another $300 in 2 years for a
> watch, no matter how much the internals change, that certainly does put a
> cap on the consumer enthusiasm for said watch, doesn't it?_

Yeah, like it puts at cap at around 2 years for a phone, of around 5 years for
a laptop, etc. Reality tends to put caps on things.

You expected people buying new watches every year? Or do you think Apple
expected that?

~~~
aetherson
You don't have your lifecycle set to the generation length -- phones, as you
note, are around 2-3 years, but they have a lifecycle of one year. The fact
that the watch has a much worse lifecycle than the phone -- despite being half
the cost -- gives valuable insight into Apple's beliefs about how compelling
it is.

If the Apple Watch were amazing, and a new generation could be more amazing
yet, why wouldn't a substantial number of the owners upgrade in a year?

------
hota_mazi
> Apple doesn’t give a shit about neckbeard hipsters who...

This is always what we hear from Apple advocates trying to justify a bad
decision on Apple's part.

"Apple doesn't care about third party apps, they want to control the
experience on their iPhone, so no app store"

"Apple doesn't care about multiple resolutions, that's fragmentation"

"Apple doesn't care about market share, they care about revenue"

... ad nauseam.

~~~
coldtea
Yeah, it's called having a focus.

Remember this "opinionated software" thing?

Plus, it works for them, made them the biggest company on the planet while
they were NOT following the armchair quarterbacks, so?

------
apecat
Apple's AirPods will probably suck, audio wise, but there's a chance they're
sturdy as hell. I know because I've used Apple's otherwise useless EarPods to
listen to spoken word content and to fall asleep with for years.

The only thing that break on the EarPods are the cables, and if you're not
like making knots intentionally, you can wake up in the morning tangled in
them for more than a year before they start to break.

So, yeah, I like the eur 500 worth of other headphones I own at the moment
too. Sure, it's weird I'll need to use some goddamned dingus to attach them to
my next phone.

But fuck me if we're still stuck with current wired tech for audiophile gear
in 2030. It's not like I want to use shitty headphones out and about. I do
because I don't want to fuck up the cables, etc. And wireless headphones still
suck, universally.

We live in the future now for goodness' sakes and Bluetooth audio is only
marginally less useless than it was ten years ago.

So yeah, if you've got any sense of pride over where wearable tech should be
taking us, please, roll over and beg that this infusion of Apple's proprietary
shitty cans into the marketplace will raise adoption of voice control _and_
increase development of less shitty hardware to make music and user interface
appear in our fucking ears with no wires.

I don't own any Apple stock so I don't really give shit, except I prefer to
buy tech somehow designed to fit together. If Apple crashes and burns because
they're trying to make wearable computers in your ears a thing, so be it.

------
ChrisLTD
I'm skeptical for a few reasons:

* AirPods don't look all that great, even if they are familiar in design

* AirPods are expensive

* Siri isn't useful enough yet

* Talking to Siri in public still feels weird

* Talking to Siri in a shared office environment feels even weirder

~~~
niels_olson
> Talking to Siri in public still feels weird

Even when it's normal, like when my daughter used to have an imaginary friend,
talking to your imaginary friend is weird.

~~~
ChrisLTD
Yeah... the utility offered needs to be super compelling to outweigh the
weirdness factor.

I think that's partially the genius of something like Alexa (and eventually
Google Home). You're in your own space so you're more likely to feel
comfortable blurting out questions and commands.

------
zzguy
Except for us with oddly shaped ears, where ear buds have always been the bane
of our existence. They won't stay in my ear, no matter what. Call me a
neckbeard hipster all you want, I still like over-the-ear headphones, and
Apple's "revolution" can suck it.

~~~
eridius
Earbuds always fall out of my left ear (but stay in my right). But I've read
people who tried them already saying that they fit better than previous
earbuds they've tried, which is a good sign. I'm guess I'll still have a
problem, but I'm hopeful that maybe Apple's actually solved it.

In any case, you can still use over-the-ear headphones. I believe Apple said
that Beats would be selling headphones with the same W1 chip that AirPods use.
Or you could just use any of the existing bluetooth headphones.

------
moron4hire
I don't understand why people are getting so upset about other people getting
upset about a feature being removed. "No, you're wrong, it's good for you to
not have this thing you wanted."

~~~
vaishaksuresh
I don't understand why people are getting upset at all! If you don't like it,
don't buy it.

------
rplst8
One argument I haven't seen much of is how these new wireless technologies
make things less future proof. In 200 years I can splice some copper wire to a
pair of headphones and maybe make them work. Good luck trying to get some
goofball wireless standard to work let alone some proprietary one.

------
imissmyjuno
5 hours of listening time on the AirPods…

~~~
rplst8
Honestly, until we have week-ish long battery life and background radiation
charging, I'm not ready to ditch all my wires.

~~~
fernandotakai
the only reason i got a pebble instead of a moto 360 is because my pebble's
battery lasts a week.

~~~
fluxquanta
I went from an original Kickstarter Pebble, to a Samsung Gear 2, to a Moto
360, back to the Pebble Time Steel. It really does seem like Pebble provides a
better product all around. It was a fun trip, I guess.

------
seanwilson
> What Apple has done is produce something that isn’t a technology product,
> but is, rather, a fashion object

Is there a general consensus that they look fashionable? I was surprised how
they look almost exactly like the old headphones with the wire cut off instead
of having an entirely new design.

I think bluetooth headphones in general are great personally. Not having wires
getting caught in things is ideal, there's no wire getting itself into knots,
I find pairing easy and when some headsets have 20+ hours of battery the
battery life really isn't an issue. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about
myself.

~~~
eridius
Apple turned white earbuds into a fashion accessory back with the iPod.

~~~
seanwilson
> Apple turned white earbuds into a fashion accessory back with the iPod.

Fair point, I remember how obvious it was iPods were getting popular when you
saw lots of people in public wearing white cored earphones for the first time.

------
PeterWhittaker
Others have commented on the tone of the article. Sure, they're right. Doesn't
matter.

Sometimes the value of an article or observation is how it flips your view of
the world around.

 _Apple is a fashion brand that makes jewelry that connects to the internet_

Huh. I've never seen or heard it expressed so well before. I've read comments
about "integrated ecosystem" and all kinds of other babble.

But that, right there? _Fashion company_? That's the money quote.

Remember how YC tends to invest in teams, not ideas, people, not tech? Tech is
fast, tech is cheap, tech is transitory. (Sure fashion is transitory, too -
but people are always buying the next one.)

Apple and a few other "tech" companies just use - and in some cases build -
incredibly advanced tech. Viewing them from the perspective of the engineer or
MBA means one sees a narrow slice of who they are.

But viewed as _a fashion brand_ , Apple is a whole other thing. Those are the
terms on which it should be evaluated.

(I offer no evaluation. My head is still spinning from the perspective jolt.)

~~~
PeterWhittaker
I don't mind a downvote, I really don't, but I'd prefer a counterargument.

If you disagree, say why. Engage.

(It's why I dislike downvoting: Driveby disengagement with negative
consequences.)

------
adamio
Sort of reminds me of the UI from the movie Her. Fully integrated handheld and
ear piece

~~~
falcolas
Minus the strong AI behind the UI, minus a snug fit in the ear, plus one
smartphone, and plus a hanging microphone.

The concept is sound, in my opinion, but the airpods are a miss.

------
dang
We changed the baity title ("Silicon Valley" is pretty close to universally
counting as linkbait in titles now, and the rest was over the edge) to a
subtitle that appears to summarize the author's argument.

------
Kluny
This is the part that made it make sense to me:

[https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/1200/1*N9h4FVkyYoZ...](https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/1200/1*N9h4FVkyYoZoipi4PTK1Fg.png)

[Image of person wearing earbugs; text "Wireless headphones. Finally
untangled."]

Tangled headphone cords aren't sexy and never will be. Removing them
altogether is the logical next move.

I just wish the replacement was better than Bluetooth.

~~~
WalterSear
I'll take tangled headphones over eminently losable $150 headphones.

~~~
eridius
Why are bluetooth earbuds more lose-able than wired earbuds? I have several
pairs of wired earbuds that came with my phones over the years, and I only
know where 1 pair is (coiled up in a drawer on my desk).

Unless the earbuds are permanently plugged in to your device, it's just as
easy to lose them as it is to lose wireless earbuds.

Unless you're trying to argue that they'd fall out and you wouldn't notice
until you've already lost it? Because that seems unlikely. How often have you
had an earbud fall out without you noticing? That's never happened to me. I
mean, they do fall out, but it's pretty hard to not notice when that happens.

~~~
falcolas
So, you notice when they fall out (anecdotally, this happens to me all the
time with the current generation of Apple headphones) - how will this help
when you're walking down a sidewalk and they get crushed under someone else's
feet? Or fall down a drain? Under your seat in your car?

Headphones are one case where a wire is eminently helpful to have.

------
skybrian
As someone who wears a hearing aid, I can see how it might be nice if Apple
made wearing earpieces more fashionable. (Not that I've had any problems, but
I can imagine younger people with hearing loss caring about this.)

But that doesn't mean they will succeed. Sometimes an Apple product turns out
to be a flop. Despite their best efforts, it's not as cool as they wanted it
to be.

------
octo_t
This article says what I've been thinking/trying to explain to people about
this.

Before the iPhone, the only people who had/wanted smart phones were "uncool"
business people[1].

And I think its the case with bluetooth headsets right now.

[1] - this may or may not have been the case, but it was definitely the
general perception at the time.

~~~
addicted
"Before the iPhone, the only people who had/wanted smart phones were "uncool"
business people[1]."

I think this is demonstrably untrue. Blackberry's were popular with regular
people as well. BBM was huge amongst non techies, at least outside the US.

The problem was they were too expensive. Which is why Blackberry released the
Pearl in 2006 which was entirely a consumer product.

------
oneloop
> the airpods drip with sex appeal

That's like, your opinion man.

Some people need trinkets to get laid, others don't ;-)

------
hariis
Made me laugh hard after a long time, yet informative.. Any other articles
like this?

~~~
helthanatos
Idk... I felt that it kind of took an extremely long time to get to the point.
But that might just be me being critical about long, redundant sentences like
this post is...

------
Animats
It's the new iDweeb. Whether Apple can make this a fashion statement remains
to be seen. The iWatch didn't really get traction.

~~~
eridius
There's no such thing as an iWatch. And the Apple Watch certainly did get
traction; it's second only to Rolex in worldwide sales!

~~~
JBReefer
In a super, super, super diverse field. That's like saying my grocery store is
#2 in worldwide sales (this is reductio ad absurdum, but you get my drift)

~~~
eridius
I dunno, if a brand new supermarket chain launched, and within a year they
became the #2 supermarket chain in worldwide sales, that would actually be
very impressive.

------
X86BSD
It basically just came down to space on the phone AND they waited just like us
for how many years for the "industry" to make Bluetooth not SUCK?! The
industry failed and Apple moved on by making it not suck.

Enjoy your corded headphones.

~~~
EpicEng
>Enjoy your corded headphones

I will, thanks

Sent from my Galaxy S7 Edge

~~~
sreyaNotfilc
Sadly, in the view of most "It didn't happen until Apple made it happen" rings
true to most people.

I was looking at wireless headphones before the iPhone 7 announcement and
found some good ones (Samsung Gear IconX and Bragi Dash).

Unfortunately they are not the cool kids.

------
jstsch
Hear hear, these silly Airpods are a small revolution. Bluetooth headphones
that don't suck make quite a difference.

