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by AdamN·9y ago·view on hn ↗
Magical - they're beautiful in a way that is 'magical'

Reinvent - well it certainly seems like a reinvention of the wireless headphone. What else would it be?

Not possible before - without W1 it wasn't possible to jump between audio coming from multiple sources transparently

3 comments
A re-invention. "We removed wires". Really?

Not possible before - without W1 it wasn't possible to jump between audio coming from multiple sources transparently

Uhh, I have a desk-based headset that can switch audio streams automatically.

In any case, this: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12829190/apple-w1-chip-ipho... seems to suggest that it's a refinement on Bluetooth with the NFC pairing that, well, already exists in numerous products out there.

Nice refinements? Sure. But it also likes to compare itself against a Bluetooth world that frankly, hasn't existed in several years... "poor audio quality that skips and cuts out", and "pairing that is constantly problematic, where users don't know whether they will re-pair the next time" (https://9to5mac.com/2016/09/12/apple-w1-chip-how-it-works/ )

> a Bluetooth world that frankly, hasn't existed in several years... "poor audio quality that skips and cuts out"

That's every day for me! What earbuds, stereo or mono, are you using that never have this problem?

I've used a bunch of little bluetooth 4.0/4.1 receivers that my nice 3.5mm earbuds plug into.

Pretty much never had a problem with skipping or quality for any of those supporting apt-x.

This is true even when i'm also wearing a bluetooth watch, etc.

That's great, but also not the same as Bluetooth earbuds. I don't have trouble either with any kind of receiver that doesn't sit within my actual ear - presumably it's something to do with either additional signal attenuation, or lack of space for a sizable antenna, or both, but whatever the reason, getting rock-solid reception in a truly wireless earbud seems to be a very difficult problem to solve.

(If you're not sure what kind of device I'm talking about here, the Rowkin Mini is a good example - note the complete lack of protrusion beyond the pinna. I suppose the AirPods themselves don't really qualify by this standard, since they seem to have their antennae in the microphone boom which protrudes below the ear; on the other hand, I'm willing to tolerate such a protrusion if it's the only reasonable way to get good signal, and improved microphone pickup is a pretty good bonus besides.)

The most profitable company in the world doesn't need us to carry their water for them. Let Gruber take care of that. You're literally trying to defend Apple for using the term "magical" to refer to a pair of pedestrian wireless headhones. Come on.
To someone that uses headphones for many hours on a daily basis, useful innovation in the space definitely feels magical to me considering how long I've been using the same old dumb wired headphones.
The point is, if you want to convince others why it is so, you have to play by their rules. Your opinion is simply your opinion.

I do like _some_ of Apple's products, but I would never spend 150 dollars on these headphones. I'm hoping that Apple cheerleaders will drive down the cost so I can get the version 2/3 for cheap when all the bugs have been ironed out.

Is colorful language in marketing new or unique to Apple? Are there people that actually mistake the term 'magical' in this context to mean, 'these headphones actually have supernatural forces working inside them!'
I agree with what you said, but like I said, the act of persuasion isn't merely stating facts.

Surely you can see that comments could have different moods. Some might simply be sarcastic, others cynical, or maybe people just venting at Apple for a bad experience they had with some other Apple product, etc, etc.

I'm still waiting to see a list of "pedestrian wireless headphones" that are actually wireless and automatically pair all your devices via the cloud.
To be sure, if that's the definition of "magical" we're working with here, I'm not sure it reaches.
There are several more interesting features. The point is these are clearly not the same as the $20 headphones people keep comparing them against.
> Reinvent - well it certainly seems like a reinvention of the wireless headphone. What else would it be?

I would argue it's a reimplementation of Kanoa's reinvention of the wireless headphone, similar to Bragi, Earin, Nextear, Freewavz, and samsung Iconx.

I would even trace this earbud revolution back to the Moto Hint (2014)