Amaya Toman AirPods are, without exaggeration, a phenomenon. Even at the time of its launch, Apple's wireless headphones were laughed at for their looks, price and susceptibility to loss. They became a real hit last Christmas. What is behind the AirPods phenomenon?
Fan gatherings are no surprise these days. Fans of the Star Wars saga, fans of fantasy or anime, or lovers of Red Dwarf meet quite regularly. The gathering of AirPods users, which took place in the Bay Area of San Francisco this February, seems strange to say the least. Vlogger Keaton Keller, who runs a YouTube channel called TechSmartt, also took part. There were 1700 registrants on the event's Facebook page, but the situation on the ground looked a lot different, and Keller didn't come across any crowds of people with AirPods sticking out of their ears.
Columnist Elizabeth Zarka in her post on the website bold Italic compares AirPods to a Rorschach test that millennials use to judge whether a person is successful and cool enough. Said Bay Area is often seen as a place dividing those who can afford the latest technological fads and those who can't. Unplanned, AirPods have become a kind of symbol of belonging to a certain class, and in this connection they are not only talked about ironically and with insight. Indeed, there are those for whom wireless headphones are an indispensable sign of their own (sometimes apparent) social status. And succumbing to this belief is apparently as easy as scoffing at those who buy expensive, unsightly headphones that are so easy to lose that audiophiles wave their hands in disdain.
AirPods have been around since 2016, but they only became a real hit after last Christmas. On Twitter, the AirPods phenomenon began around this time live your own life.
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From relative obscurity, Apple's wireless headphones have moved into the position of a luxury accessory for millennials, becoming Apple's second best-selling product in the two years since its launch. It may seem ridiculous and absurd to us, but elitist communities of young proud owners of AirPods (many of whom owed their parents for their headphones) really began to form on the Internet. One of them called "The Pod Squad" it even organized meetings of its members in larger cities. This group, which describes itself as "the most exclusive", artificially increases its attractiveness and the enthusiasm of members and non-members for organized events, which require the ownership of AirPods, or the visible wearing of them, with the help of usual marketing tactics.
The aforementioned Liz Zarka also attended one of the Pod Squad meetings. Like the aforementioned YouTuber, she was hoping to infiltrate the exclusive community of proud AirPods owners, but that didn't happen. Pod Squad has proven to be an over inflated and well thought out marketing bubble that produces more talk than action. Even YouTuber PlainRock124, who arrived at one of the gatherings wearing a DIY t-shirt with a picture of AirPods and the word "Poor" crossed out, did not encounter elitists with AirPods in their ears. But instead of "airpodists", he was greeted on the spot only by the uncomprehending looks of random passers-by. He ended up running into a group of his own fans here, whom he persuaded to wave their AirPods cases at him and shout "I'm not poor" at the camera.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with owning AirPods as such. Every product has its buyer, and owners of Apple's wireless headphones praise their lightness, functionality, wirelessness and, for the lucky ones, how well the headphones stay in their ears. In the context of such fame, one would expect the same, if not more, enthusiasm to be generated by the second generation, which also offers several improvements, including a new chip or case for wireless charging. But, surprisingly, enthusiasm does not happen. Discussion forums are often full of criticism and complaints. Some users even claim, completely paradoxically, that they are so worried about losing their expensive accessory that they are practically afraid to wear it outside.
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Petr Škuta According to Elizabet Zarka, a widely known, visible and immediately recognizable expensive accessory is a certain consolation for members of a generation that in many parts of the world does not have a bright financial future. Earning money on AirPods is not an impossible task, and many young people can in a way buy into the belief that they are not so bad.
A Twitter post by a young, wealthy couple who boasted about buying their own house on the network and asked other users what they had bought also speaks volumes. "AirPods," replied a user with the nickname vicxkat succinctly, earning more than 57 "likes" for his reply.
Zarka has obviously caught something on the net or in BBT and is trying to look smart. That test is about nothing else and it is completely out of the way. As well as its conclusions, the writings are a wash that became the father of thought. It's a book about the fact that mentally ill people are very easily manipulated and will only buy inferior crap if they are half-brainwashed by advertising.
And audiophiles don't just wave their hands in disdain at AirPods, but at all BT headphones. Really high-quality rears are not yet on the market. Bang Olufsen, E8 2.0 are decent, but nothing for socks.
AirPods are "just" the hottest players of them all, and you don't need to be an audiophile. I will not even return to their hideous appearance and disastrous processing. Plastic wristband from the shooting range. That's the reality.
Hmm, so obviously no AirPods user gatherings have taken place, and that would probably be stupid - it's already such a widespread product that it doesn't make sense. Today, the headphones are so available in our country that all the madness surrounding them is passé, at least in my opinion.
As for their quality, I have to admit that it is not bad at all. I am definitely not worried about their price (and they are by far my cheapest headphones), I am not worried about losing them and I do not condemn them in terms of sound. Although I have wired earplugs at a price of around 20, which definitely play better, I also have wireless over-the-ear headphones for a slightly lower price, I'm really picky about the sound, so even after trying the AirPods I didn't throw them away (didn't give them to the children), but I use them they are - they have their place and really don't play as badly as I expected. They don't fit every situation, but they're often the best solution and I'm satisfied.