Kirk McElhearn:
Yesterday Apple introduced AirPods. What a mistake.
While I appreciate the uniqueness of these headphones, I predict that in a year or two, they’ll have gone the way of the gold Apple Watch Edition.
You know how you’re walking or running and one of your earbuds falls out? You grab the cord, reel it in, and put it back in your ear. And then you go on walking or running. With AirPods, one of them will fall out, and you’ll watch as someone steps on it, or as it falls down a subway grating.
I can also see that, as you get on a bus or subway, someone grabs at one of your AirPods to snatch it, and you’re listening only to one channel of music for the rest of the day.
Hard to argue with the “you’ll lose them too easily” logic here. But lots of people have Bluetooth earpieces and they continue to sell. How many times have you been in a crowd and seen someone walking and talking with a bit of plastic stuck in their ear. In this respect, the AirPods are no different.
The elegance of Apple’s solution to pairing and voice makes these game-changers, in my opinion. From Apple’s press release:
With AirPods, setting up and using wireless headphones has never been easier. Just open the charging case near your iPhone and with a simple tap, AirPods are immediately set up with all the devices signed into your iCloud account, including your iPad and Mac. AirPods are connected and ready to go when you are, just put them in your ears when you want to listen.
If you’ve ever wrestled with pairing a recalcitrant Bluetooth device, the AirPods will be a breath of fresh air. As to losing them, consider your surroundings. If you are going for a run, or will be in a crowded, snatch-and-grab kind of environment, consider using your lightning headphones instead. Roaming around the house or office, out grocery shopping, on an airplane? My guess is, you’ll notice if one of them falls out.
And stay away from subway gratings.
99% of the time my headphones come out because I snag the dangley cords.
In fairness, the AirPods are clearly not designed for active usage. But then, neither are the wired versions. They fall out all the time.
In that usage case, and you want buds and not cans, you pretty much need something that loops over the ear. Wired or wireless.
This is an article from Jan 2016 but I think the author got it right. Apple is in the long game, and going wireless is a temporary pain.
http://www.cultofmac.com/407128/apple-wireless-earpods-hearing-aids/
Seems to me that during the keynote Schiller also mentioned some other airpods specifically for fitness purposes. It is very unimaginative just to focus on this one particular model.
he’s either a troll, or incredibly narrow-minded.
1) I’ve never heard of these ear-pod thieves. are they the same guys who chop off fingers to use w/ stolen TouchID iPhones? oh yeah, that never happened.
2) if these don’t stay in-ear running, they may i suggest one of the BeatsX sporty models?
3) as an office worker, these will be just fine. perhaps even perfect for my use case.
its getting harder to be an apple troll these days, so they have to go thru more mental gymnastics to present their made-up doom scenarios….such as “AirPod subway thieves”
No, he is not a troll. He is the iTunes guy on macWorld.
That makes it even more disappointing.
As shown during the keynote.
Um, Apple isn’t the first to make wireless earbuds without a cord. Some people don’t want cords.
Let me just say, I am a big fan of Kirk’s writing and I think he does have a point. The lack of a tether lends a feeling of insecurity, a natural reaction. I just think there is way more upside to this (what I think is a) manageable downside.
I smell a Kickstarter. “AirCord – Tether your AirPods to each other around your neck!” $30 for a 20-inch long, white rubber band. $35 for Kickstarter green!
My thoughts exactly. And I’m really tired of “Apple made something that I’m going to lose easily” argument. You have a choice, lots of choices in fact, when it comes to wireless headsets, and keep up with your stuff already.
Don’t you think it’s likely that the “losing these while running” use case will be solved by 3-rd party accessory makers?
Lots of tech journalists are really surprising me a bit with their recalcitrance on this issue. Only a few complaints I’ve heard actually make sense. The majority are trumped up, overblown, and seem to miss all the opportunity here. Arguing with them just makes them dig in their heels more. It’s a bit sad.
Sounds like Kirk hasn’t thought this through, and has not tried the Airpods.
There are people for whom Earpods or earbuds in general do not fit. Or they don’t like them. For the rest of us who use them, we know they don’t fall out while running or doing almost anything else. The only time they come out is, as someone already inhibited here, the cable is snagged.
So, no need to stay away from subway gratings.
And because it’s Apple, it’s open to far more criticism than any other brand that’s ever offered products like this before.
Kind of like that one-button iMac mouse.
Kirk generally does great work. But that first excerpt reminds me of Dvorak a bit.
Yes.
Yeah, as I tweeted after the event it’s time for the “I don’t like these, so they suck!” posts and right on time…
It’s one thing to point out potential flaws or gotchas… but to call the entire product a mistake because it doesn’t fit one person’s needs is just silly.
I think Kirk has a point. I had a jawbone era that lost ( and didn’t replace) and it fit my ear better than EarPods (I ended up getting the Apple in-ear headphones). It would have been nice if Apple had developed a “find my Airpod” app. Needless to say, I won’t be getting Airpods. Or upgrading my iPhone 6: I take a lot of long roadtrips and need to be able to charge my phone and use the Aux-in cable in the car at the same time.
Exactly! If they fall out as frequently as Kirk suggests, then he should seriously consider different headphones as they are clearly not a good fit for him.
As to Dave’s point about noticing that they’ve fallen out, I’d be surprised if you didn’t. When 1 is removed, the music is automatically paused (I assume using the infrared sensor).
if you buy those airpods, you already own an iphone with the included earpods, so you’ll know if they fit your ear or not (and fall out). if they fit, short of being in a car accident, i can’t imagine a scenario where they could fall out (unless someone yanks at the non-existing cord). but we’ll see, i wouldn’t mind finding me a pair on the street.
I’ve literally never had the EarPods fall out of my ear. I guess I have lucky ears?
Here’s one option (another less-cable-y option would be a Bluetooth receiver for your head unit’s line-in).
http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F8J198/
It seems like people don’t get that these are optional.
Kirk has become a grouchy old buzzard lately with lots of pointless Apple criticism like this and other minor things. Sad to see as he used to write some good articles.
Well, never mind… https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LVZ4SXN/?utm_source=loopinsight.com%2Frss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+(The+Loop)&utm_content=FeedBurner
This has been a problem since the current shape of wired bud was introduced by Apple, and there have been very simple accessories to solve the problem.
If these don’t fit on the new airpods, I’m sure new. Erosion soon will.
http://www.imore.com/three-accessories-keep-earpods-your-ears-when-youre-working-out