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Millions of dollars in airpod sales. It's really as simple as that. I mean, Apple's justification is that they are being courageous in pushing the world toward

Millions of dollars in airpod sales. It's really as simple as that. I mean, Apple's justification is that they are being courageous in pushing the world towards their vision of the future, which is wireless. Ignoring, for the moment whether this is a valid vision, how does a courageous move towards this future involve bundling not one, but 2 wired options with the phone? I'm fairly certain I would have been unhappy with the decision to drop the headphone jack no matter what, but couching it as courage has taken me from unhappiness to screw them.

pfranz 10y ago
Do you think airpods will reach millions in sales? Yeah, Apple is high end, but it's also kind of a commodity or generic for a smartphone. The lowest end Apple products sell in way higher volumes than the higher end stuff. Especially since they're not included with any product, I think there's a good chance that the AirPods fall into the same niche as in-ear headphones (which I'm surprised Apple still sells).
- addicted 10y ago
  I mean, easily. At $159, they only need to sell 15000 to reach $2mm in sales. Unless you thought I meant units. I definitely think millions of units is possible, if Apple continues selling hundreds of millions of iPhones. But it's not just AirPods sales. Apple makes a few dollars with every lightning device that is sold. So essentially, even if those hundreds of millions of iPhone devices don't lead to sales of millions of Airpods, they will lead to sales of 10s of millions of Lightning headphones. Which means tens of millions of free dollars for Apple. Here's the other thing though. If Apple does not expect to sell millions of Airpods, then the whole "Courage, because the future is wireless" justification falls apart, because if not even 1% of the headphones being sold are Airpods, it's likely the future is not wireless.
  - randomafrican 10y ago
    $2mm is something like one hour of revenue for Apple I don't think they make design decisions on that basis
    - roryisok 10y ago
      sorry to be picky, but shouldn't that be $2m? not two millimeters of dollar
      - baptou12 10y ago
        millidollar would be better
      - BosquetVert 10y ago
        Often, in financial contexts[0], million is written mm rather than m. [0]: http://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stand-for http://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stand...
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
- behnamoh 10y ago
  I'm always suspicious about harmful effects of all these electromagnetic waves around us, and with Apple forcing everyone to use Bluetooth headphones, I'm even more concerned. Researchers have not come to a definite conclusion about how much EM waves can be related to diseases, but they haven't denied it either. And one thing is obvious: long-term exposure to EM radiation cannot be good, no matter how much low-power it is. Apple (and other Bluetooth headphone companies) are building on a presumption that EM waves are not harmful, and even if they are, lawyers can easily close the case for Apple.
  - jodrellblank 10y ago
    with Apple forcing everyone to use Bluetooth headphones forcing you by including wired headphones in the box and wired headphone adapters in the box and not even having the bluetooth headphones available at release date? That kind of forcing? long-term exposure to EM radiation cannot be good, no matter how much low-power it is. You realise that wires radiate E/M as well, right? And that light is 'electromagnetic waves'? and that radiant heat is too?
    - behnamoh 10y ago
      I have studied various articles on this issue. Your claim that light and heat are EM waves as well, doesn't mean that they're dangerous, cause we've been under their effect for millions of years and nothing happened (or we got used to it). But artificial sources of radiation are much more powerful and unfortunately, they mostly use directional antenna, as opposed to omnidirectional sunlight. Yes, Apple has included those wired headphones, too. But don't forget that the focus henceforth is on "wireless" headphones, about which I wrote my concerns. You can ignore the facts and go on and just "trust" these companies, or you can read for yourself and realize that not every new technology is inherently good for your health.
      - joncrocks 10y ago
        If you're worried about the health effects of bluetooth headphones, then presumably you're also worried about the signals sent/received by the mobile phones themselves. The power in the signal between the phone and the nearby base-station/cell-tower is going to be orders of magnitude larger than between the phone and any bluetooth headset. I don't think anyone is arguing that using bluetooth headphones is 'good for your health', just that it's 'not bad for your health'. I'm not aware of any mainstream studies that have shown adverse effects from exposure to 'normal' levels of radio waves of the type produced by consumer products. I am open to being proven wrong though!
intoverflow2 10y ago
Pains me to say this but the whole "courage" speech honestly felt like the reality distortion field has gone into meltdown at Apple. All I wanted was them to tell me what great benefit that space in the case being free brought me, be it more battery, waterproofing, more processing power. But what did I get? I got told they were doing it because they hate wires and it's a courageous thing to do, like I'm supposed to applaud them for that. No solid justification for it at all. For years I have used my headphones in my iPhone on the way to work then as soon as I get to work I plug them into my laptop. Now I have a choice of: - switching over the BT (gonna be fun pairing and unpairing when I arrive and leave work) - using my same headphones and carrying a dongle having the dongle rattling around my desk during the day, then taking the dongle with me for the trip home - buying two pairs of headphones with one that ONLY works with the iPhone None of these are good solutions.
- abalone 10y ago
  > Now I have a choice of: - switching over the BT (gonna be fun pairing and unpairing when I arrive and leave work) Sounds like you didn't actually watch the video. 1) AirPods don't use Bluetooth. 2) Connecting them is super simple; just hold them close to the device and tap OK. And you only have to do it once per family of devices associated via iCloud.
  - intoverflow2 10y ago
    I'm not spending almost $200 (UK prices) on headphones....
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

pfranz 10y ago

Do you think airpods will reach millions in sales? Yeah, Apple is high end, but it's also kind of a commodity or generic for a smartphone. The lowest end Apple products sell in way higher volumes than the higher end stuff. Especially since they're not included with any product, I think there's a good chance that the AirPods fall into the same niche as in-ear headphones (which I'm surprised Apple still sells).

addicted 10y ago
I mean, easily. At $159, they only need to sell 15000 to reach $2mm in sales. Unless you thought I meant units. I definitely think millions of units is possible, if Apple continues selling hundreds of millions of iPhones. But it's not just AirPods sales. Apple makes a few dollars with every lightning device that is sold. So essentially, even if those hundreds of millions of iPhone devices don't lead to sales of millions of Airpods, they will lead to sales of 10s of millions of Lightning headphones. Which means tens of millions of free dollars for Apple. Here's the other thing though. If Apple does not expect to sell millions of Airpods, then the whole "Courage, because the future is wireless" justification falls apart, because if not even 1% of the headphones being sold are Airpods, it's likely the future is not wireless.
- randomafrican 10y ago
  $2mm is something like one hour of revenue for Apple I don't think they make design decisions on that basis
  - roryisok 10y ago
    sorry to be picky, but shouldn't that be $2m? not two millimeters of dollar
    - baptou12 10y ago
      millidollar would be better
    - BosquetVert 10y ago
      Often, in financial contexts[0], million is written mm rather than m. [0]: http://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stand-for http://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stand...
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
behnamoh 10y ago
I'm always suspicious about harmful effects of all these electromagnetic waves around us, and with Apple forcing everyone to use Bluetooth headphones, I'm even more concerned. Researchers have not come to a definite conclusion about how much EM waves can be related to diseases, but they haven't denied it either. And one thing is obvious: long-term exposure to EM radiation cannot be good, no matter how much low-power it is. Apple (and other Bluetooth headphone companies) are building on a presumption that EM waves are not harmful, and even if they are, lawyers can easily close the case for Apple.
- jodrellblank 10y ago
  with Apple forcing everyone to use Bluetooth headphones forcing you by including wired headphones in the box and wired headphone adapters in the box and not even having the bluetooth headphones available at release date? That kind of forcing? long-term exposure to EM radiation cannot be good, no matter how much low-power it is. You realise that wires radiate E/M as well, right? And that light is 'electromagnetic waves'? and that radiant heat is too?
  - behnamoh 10y ago
    I have studied various articles on this issue. Your claim that light and heat are EM waves as well, doesn't mean that they're dangerous, cause we've been under their effect for millions of years and nothing happened (or we got used to it). But artificial sources of radiation are much more powerful and unfortunately, they mostly use directional antenna, as opposed to omnidirectional sunlight. Yes, Apple has included those wired headphones, too. But don't forget that the focus henceforth is on "wireless" headphones, about which I wrote my concerns. You can ignore the facts and go on and just "trust" these companies, or you can read for yourself and realize that not every new technology is inherently good for your health.
    - joncrocks 10y ago
      If you're worried about the health effects of bluetooth headphones, then presumably you're also worried about the signals sent/received by the mobile phones themselves. The power in the signal between the phone and the nearby base-station/cell-tower is going to be orders of magnitude larger than between the phone and any bluetooth headset. I don't think anyone is arguing that using bluetooth headphones is 'good for your health', just that it's 'not bad for your health'. I'm not aware of any mainstream studies that have shown adverse effects from exposure to 'normal' levels of radio waves of the type produced by consumer products. I am open to being proven wrong though!

intoverflow2 10y ago

Pains me to say this but the whole "courage" speech honestly felt like the reality distortion field has gone into meltdown at Apple. All I wanted was them to tell me what great benefit that space in the case being free brought me, be it more battery, waterproofing, more processing power. But what did I get? I got told they were doing it because they hate wires and it's a courageous thing to do, like I'm supposed to applaud them for that. No solid justification for it at all. For years I have used my headphones in my iPhone on the way to work then as soon as I get to work I plug them into my laptop. Now I have a choice of: - switching over the BT (gonna be fun pairing and unpairing when I arrive and leave work) - using my same headphones and carrying a dongle having the dongle rattling around my desk during the day, then taking the dongle with me for the trip home - buying two pairs of headphones with one that ONLY works with the iPhone None of these are good solutions.

abalone 10y ago
> Now I have a choice of: - switching over the BT (gonna be fun pairing and unpairing when I arrive and leave work) Sounds like you didn't actually watch the video. 1) AirPods don't use Bluetooth. 2) Connecting them is super simple; just hold them close to the device and tap OK. And you only have to do it once per family of devices associated via iCloud.
- intoverflow2 10y ago
  I'm not spending almost $200 (UK prices) on headphones....
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]