Ondrej Holzman AirPods wireless headphones usually do not evoke neutral emotions, users like them immediately they fall in love, or reject them for various reasons. However, they definitely represent a success for Apple, also because the wait for them continues for six weeks, and above all they lay the foundations for something much bigger than just headphones as such.
For now, AirPods are primarily viewed as classic headphones for listening to music, the successor to wired EarPods. Of course, the price tag is different, because of that they are not included with every iPhone, but in principle they are still headphones.
Those who already use AirPods will surely agree with me that they are definitely not ordinary headphones, but I am talking more about the general perception. However, it is crucial for Apple that with the first AirPods it has entered a completely new field of wearables, while the market with them is starting to dominate more and more significantly.
In his text "The new leader in wearables" about it on the blog Above Avalon writes Neil Cybart:
The wearables market is quickly turning into a platform battle. The winners will be those companies that offer a larger range of wearable devices. The Apple Watch, AirPods and Beats headphones with the W1 chip represent Apple's wearable platform. (…) the wearables market is best understood as separate battles for several positions: wrist, ears, eyes and body (e.g. clothing). At the moment, only wrist and ear products are ready for the mass market. Further battles for eyes and body remain R&D projects due to design and technological obstacles.
Apple is currently the only company that plays more significantly in at least two areas of wearables (wrist and ears). Many underestimate the benefits of having this type of control over a wearables platform. Just as strong loyalty and high satisfaction resulted in minimal dilution of the iPhone user base, satisfied Apple Watch users are much more likely to buy AirPods and vice versa. Once users adopt the full suite of wearables, Apple's current base of more than 800 million people won't hurt Apple.
When it is said today w, or if you want wearable devices, most automatically imagine a smart bracelet or watch. However, as Cybart points out, this is only a very limited view. For now, however, it is caused by the fact that the complete set of wearables is not yet here.
In connection with this market, the most recent writings are about how Fitbit is increasingly fighting with itself and trying to find a sustainable business model to continue with smart fitness bracelets. At that moment, of course, it is mentioned that Apple is catching up very quickly with its Watch, but what is not discussed so much is the fact that the Californian giant is thinking bigger and is arming itself on other fronts as well.
In order not to completely harm the competition, Samsung has already launched on the wrist and also in the ears at the same time, but neither its watch nor the Gear IconX wireless headphones have gained much traction like the Apple Watch and AirPods. Apple thus, more or less from the beginning (even if it was often said that its watch came quite late against the competition) is building a strong position in order to maximally support and expand its ecosystem.
We are already at Jablíčkář they described how only the combination of Watch and AirPods brings a magical experience. Both products can be used separately (or with the iPhone), but when you combine them together, you will discover the benefits of the apple ecosystem and products that work well together. Apple wants to build its "wearable" platform on this, and we will probably see its next big news partly in this area as well.
Current Apple CEO Tim Cook has long talked about augmented reality as a technology he believes in a lot. While the media's interest mainly revolves around virtual reality, Apple's laboratories are probably working very hard on deploying augmented reality (AR), which is both more ready and much easier for humans to grasp and use in everyday life.
Mark Gurman today in Bloomberg writes, that AR will indeed be "Apple's next big thing":
Apple is working on several AR products, including digital glasses that would connect wirelessly to an iPhone and display content — movies, maps and more. While the glasses are still a long way off, AR-related features could appear sooner in the iPhone.
(...)
Hundreds of engineers are now dedicated to the project, including some from the iPhone camera team working on AR-related features for the iPhone. One feature Apple is testing is the ability to capture an image and then later change the depth of the photo or specific objects; another would separate an object in the image, such as a human head, and allow it to be rotated 180 degrees.
Glasses are mentioned more and more often in connection with AR and Apple, but it seems that we will not see them as the next wearable area that the company will enter in the near future. Even more significant use of the iPhone for augmented reality, however, will mean an important step by Apple in strengthening its own ecosystem, with an extension to the Watch and AirPods.
Watches and wireless headphones are actually such small computers that can be extremely powerful together - in connection with the iPhone. Therefore, AirPods should be seen not as expensive headphones for listening to music, but actually as affordable computers for the ears. After all, more extensively about the pricing policy he thought Neil Cybart again:
After three months with AirPods, one observation concerns the pricing policy. It's clear that Apple is underestimating AirPods. Although this statement may seem strange considering that every iPhone comes with EarPods in the box, AirPods are not just any headphones. A combination of accelerometers, optical sensors, the new W1 chip and a well-designed charging case make AirPods Apple's second wearable product. AirPods are computers for the ears.
Cybart then compares Apple headphones with direct competition – i.e. truly wireless headphones, such as Bragi Dash, Samsung Gear IconX, Motorola VerveOnes and others: AirPods for $169 are clearly among the cheapest headphones in this category. What is interesting is that the Apple Watch is also in a very similar position within its category.
There can be many reasons why Apple can offer some products cheaper than the competition, which was certainly not the norm, but the most important thing is that it does not do so even though it could. With an aggressive pricing policy, it can build a strong foundation in the field of wearables right from the start and use another screw to consolidate users in its ecosystem.
In the future, it will be interesting to watch two things: how quickly Apple can deploy augmented reality as another new "product", and on the other hand, how it will expand the wearable platform. Will we see more, premium versions of AirPods? Will AR penetrate them too?
I don't understand why they don't just give it as part of the package, when they already want such money for the stupid mobile phone.
And now you mean Apple, HTC, Samsung or Sony, what do they have a phone for 20k and only wired headphones are included? After all, does the Huawei flight for 40k have anything included?
I'm talking about the iPhone. When it's the "best" mobile phone in the world, I see no reason why they couldn't put it in a box, invest extra money (CZK 5) in stupid wireless headphones??? And almost everywhere they talk about Airpods, because Apple again he invented overpriced bird stuff that will be bought by millions of people all over the world. Golden Gear Iconx!!!
I'm talking about the iPhone. When it's the "best" mobile phone in the world, I see no reason why they couldn't put it in a box, invest extra money (CZK 5) in stupid wireless headphones??? And almost everywhere they talk about Airpods, because Apple again he invented overpriced bird stuff that will be bought by millions of people all over the world. Golden Gear Iconx!!!
Interestingly. Without logic and realism, but interesting :-)
It's simple, Apple is a stock company and its primary task is to make money for shareholders. That's not good for handouts ;-).
And as long as people keep buying it like hot cakes at the store, there will be no reason to make it cheaper, or to motivate by giving away accessories for something else, etc.
I must have been born from the Apple Watch, the concept of headphones seems interesting, for the first time in at least 5 years something has moved forward. However, the price tag, the wait for delivery and the alleged sound performance also put me off. In general, I would be interested in something reasonably large and foldable for traveling with the same functions. Let's say something like AKG K450 with wireless and W1 chip.
K450? Well, I will remember this joke for a long time to come. I have never experienced such a headache, nor do I remember it. And quality like from a phone booth. Ufff... returned on the third day (the species were playing).
And what kind of music do you listen to and what kind of headphones?
Hi, I'm not limited by genre, I listen to whatever I like (maybe except for brass bands). Currently on Sennheiser Momentum Wireless, I've been looking for something with noise reduction for commuting and noise in the office. Watch out for AKG - they have disastrous mids. But maybe their sound just didn't suit me or I had the wrong piece, I can't rule that out.
So I'm not surprised that you have problems with the quality of the AKG K450, when you have hearing aids for 4 times the price ;-).
I switched to them from headphones for 500 CZK, so I was super satisfied ;-). Also, I wanted something super portable, and these are it. I was originally considering a Koss Porta.
Otherwise, yours are even bigger, so I would expect that even for a similar price they would also be of better quality. Personally, I like the fact that they are a bit more bass-heavy, that's important to me.
Going for headphones from a higher price category is always great, but then never the other way round ;-). The ones I have at work for about 900 CZK, I only have them on my head out of necessity, because the sound is terrible.
At the time when I tried the AKG ones, the Momentums weren't even made yet — I was wearing the Sennheiser PXC 360 BT... which, although they have noise cancelling, were still completely different in terms of sound... and they were pretty much comparable in price. I worked on Momentum years later... as you say, you try once and the road doesn't go down :-)
And do you have any experience with something as mobile as the K450, but don't you happen to have a better sound?
Otherwise, I don't know if it's an advantage that I haven't gotten to the best pieces yet ;-). There needs to be something small in the ear that can overcome what my big ones are ;-).
However, with Ip, you have headphones included, if you want wireless, you have to pay extra. I don't see a problem with that.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/907257c09f7f7f1e5397bd31cac97dc15226219fe55926492ba5a496ba2ea8ab.jpg
Golden Gear IconX? Do you mean the headphones that users complain about that in reality last an hour, max. an hour and a half and are not enough for even one longer run? And which are so often disconnected from phones of the same brand that Alza had with them for a long time, that the product is not recommended, that customers rated it as unreliable? So sure, that's a win :D
But don't buy the overpriced bird stuff. No one is forcing you to do this - and you don't need to get upset.
Good text. I see it quite similarly.
The shape absolutely does not hold in my ear at all. I look Max. wrapped in a classic foam cover and not ideal either. Do I have an abnormal ear? ? Or does anyone have a similar problem??
You have a non-standard ear.. they fit me perfectly.. I don't even know I have them in my ear :) Try ear plastic surgery :DD
:-) :-)