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Courage is letting customers change the default browser even when yours might not be the best.
124 replies and sub-replies as of Sep 11 2016
Courage is admitting that dongles are about as insanely great as a wardrobe made entirely of black turtlenecks and dad jeans.
too soon
Courage is allowing apps in your app store without an overly cumbersome review process and trusting developers to get things right.
courage might be thinking about what your users actually care about instead of following tech theology
Courage – Steve Jobs (on HN today) news.ycombinator.com/item?id=124642…
I'm not clear whether you're suggesting Apple is or isn't listening to users.
it’s looking at users, not technologists.
what do you see as the long-term value for users that offsets removing the feature? Better camera & battery?
no cable
That’s Comtastic!!
puzzling then that their solution was to sell you a device with a (propriatary) cable + a dongle for your existing cables.
I really don’t see why this is hard. Most people use the headphones in the box. They lose nothing. Over time, people go wireless.
anecdotally I've never seen this but I don't want to dismiss it either. Is there data behind your assertion? Curious.
~300m headphones sold a year.
surely you understand that doesn't mean most use the included headphones, right? What's the data on headphone usage?
I've seen no data (it may exist) suggesting that's true. Many people certainly prefer not having to charge another thing.
300m annual headphone unit sales. 1.5bn smartphone sales. QED
that's not even correlation it's just a guess. This says most only use when working out
Premium US Headphone Market Surpasses $1B - npd.com
headphone market ($100+) continued to grow throughout 2013, surpassing $1 billion- an increase of 21 percent from 2012, according to The NPD Group's Retail Tracking Service.
npd.com
that could very well mean the majority of smartphone users don't use headphones. Ever.
I dont see a breakdown of brands for phones or headsets; low % of Apple users could use the in box ones w/ others skewing
that is also true, and supports my point. ‘I want to plug my $300 headphones in’ is not a majority behavior
maybe but you're ignoring historical headphone sales. Data on new headphones users vs new phone users. Still not clear.
even if 100% those are wireless, that suggests only 20% of phone buyers seek out wireless. Indicates low consumer interest.
BTW, I googled it and it appears the number is ~17% of 300M. Suggests 3.4% phone users pick wireless.
Wireless headphones are still way less popular than wired ones
The iPhone 7 might change things, but as it stands now, wireless headphones are still way less popular than their wired counterparts.
businessinsider.com
He means that, given the huge difference, most people—the vast majority—obviously use the headphones included in the box.
that's obviously true, but a separate question to whether users are driving a shift to wireless.
That’s the power of defaults. Most people use what’s in the box. Those who buy an extra, now likely to go wireless.
And, since most people use what’s in the box, why do they care what the connector is? What’s in the box works “fine”.
no, the vast majority purchase wired. Those who purchase high-end BT-enabled, anecdotally, often don't use it.
this is simply not true. We don't have to speculate. There is data.
it’s not debatable that most people don’t buy third party headphones
also it is very easy to conflate 'low consumer interest' with 'expensive and crappy options' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
there are lots of reasonable and very good headphones. Most people use the one in the box
I think that will always be true - not arguing that at all.
Amazon will offer you many cheap options too. Wireless is not expensive.
yes, we agree. You're correct when you've made that point on maps and browsers as well. Still misses the point.
why not wait until wireless can be the default before removing the jack. Using lighting is a crappy stopgap
Why not wait until all monitors have DisplayPort connectors before dropping VGA from laptops?
Or whatever connector/tech. People keep saying Apple should wait. Instead,they skate to where the puck will be.
Really not clear what “the point” is, so I could very well be missing it. :-)
But my point is, everyone who buys iPhone7 has working headphones in box. 80+% will be happy with them.
Those who aren’t, why would they buy wired headphones now? Wireless will win, slowly but eventually.
exactly
we did a study recently and found it was 5.4% in US.
different point. I’m suggesting most people next week will be happy with the pods that are free in the box.
agree.
do either of you have data suggesting people prefer wireless to not charging? There's an unproven assumption here
Apple will have telemetry data on how much that happens
Gentlemen, next iterations of Apple Bluetooth in-ear monitors will harvest energy via technology from Passif.
wireless is just not a strong preference. Yet perhaps. Mostly because they are expensive.
Ben, the arc of time will converge with the arc of Moore's Law. Price halfing each year or better.
don’t think so this time given the watch didn’t drop in half. Economics of that law are no more.
Ben, I hear ya. I am calling Apple Watch ver1 as a doorbuster at $99 this holiday season.
$199 maybe not $99.
Ben, version 1 or Edition 1? Still healthy inventory on version 1.
those are going away. Series 1 will be only choice in that range.
I think it’s best to think of airpods like watch as a potential computing platform.
Ben, indeed! As I wrote at the amazing @techpinions: 50% of computing by voice in the next 10 years!
Bonjour is discovery over IP. BLE has discovery, it lacks simple/secure/swappable cloud config.
Yep. Bet W1 *requires* iCloud account / registration to work its magic.
BLE iCloud config/pairing is already done for HomeKit accessories
yes, Apple has targeted the flaws of BT in HomeKit & AirPods, and across Continuity
they won’t license it. But beats will use it and all new generations of it and surrounding tech.
all new beats are getting W1 already. It’s targeting a very different group.
in high end headphones there are only two brands with major share. Bose and Beats.
that is wrong, though expensive phones tend to have BT, which shows in the data.
Amazon.com: Headphones: Electronics: Earbud Headphones, Over-Ear Headphones, On-Ear Headphones & More
Online shopping for Electronics from a great selection of Earbud Headphones, Over-Ear Headphones, On-Ear Headphones & more at everyday low prices.
amazon.com
that’s not a representative sample. That’s an amazon sample.
sounds like we agree AMZN sells BT headphones cheaper than Apple's wired ones & the open q is why ppl don't buy.
don’t see the value over free. Needs better marketing. Most who buy wireless are for sport or travel.
To be fair, most BT headphones suck.
no cord is just 1 attribute of the product. The value in the W1,sound quality&the integration is compelling
not to mention that the microphone input opens voice control of the entire Apple ecosystem
I cannot see why “sound quality” from a tiny, low-power receiver/DAC/amp beats phone circuits
the digital music path is longer & prone to interference; the analog path is shorter but not
sorry, didn't mean BT quality>>analog every time; meant AirPods w/W1 >>commodity AMZN BT phones
interestingly, music instrument wireless devices exist that pro guitarists prefer over cables
I see people say that NO wireless phones are as good as decent wired ones…stuttering, dropouts mar experience
the future is wireless: listening, charging & connecting.
Is it too early? And could apple influence that?
…and most of the rest will be happy with the dongle. Wireless comes over time
I wonder what % of people make voice calls or listen to music while charging battery at the same time.
Low consumer interest to date is a moot point. Apple is skating to where they believe the puck is going.
Do not forget about ecosystem of accessories that used 3.5 jack w/out need to pay Apple for each single sold piece.
BTW, most smarphones has wired headphone in the box. Hence, 300m+1.5bn.
yes, though dividing by total users vs total units is a better way to look at it.
Compare # of wired+in the box to wireless sales--proportion. Wireless headphone is not viable option when priced @ $150+.
an interesting point. Disc media (format) replaced entirely. We'll still need sound (content) direct to our ears
disc media is just a way to deliver 1's and 0's, we still use it.
yup, streamlined delivery (remove wires, discs, etc). Funny to think how controversial MBA was w/o optical drive
and meanwhile we all gain the saved space in battery capacity etc.
not sure they we got an increased battery capacity. If the preso was honest, that's where Taptic Engine (low value) sits.
Howto ween off: dongle as behavioral experiment which adds more friction to the wired experience
to add to his pt (& also what the courage is really for), read @benthompson's bullish bearish
Beyond the iPhone
Apple’s event may have been lacking on the surface, but it laid the groundwork for innovations that will be revealed in time. And yes, it was courageous.
stratechery.com
are you sure they're not doing the opposite? Wireless tech for headphones only recently got semi-okay; it's not good yet.
wouldn't it be better for users to hold off until wireless tech is good enough to give a great user experience?
3.5 jack + BT is pretty good combination for wireless + wired. Proprietary wireless + wired is not the future
Apple didn't offer anything that could be new open standard, but blocked existing open & industry wide one.
If Apple wanted to switch analog to digital it'd used USB-C, not lightning. BTW, there's no one in MacBook.
yeah I wonder if they're going to wait ~5 years then introduce USB-C and require new accessories again.
do you think this is a theology (eg wireless us the future!) move, or biz move to lower repair costs they're rationalizing?
Nice to have the two aligned …
Courage means not being completely stupid to listen to people who would give away the keys to the kingdom.