7 ms·

I saw a report on twitter with serial numbers showing build dates of September and November, along with old copyright dates on the boxes on the new AirPods. Com

by mackey 8y ago

I saw a report on twitter with serial numbers showing build dates of September and November, along with old copyright dates on the boxes on the new AirPods. Combine that with the "Hey Siri" being shown in "Gather Round" video in September, I bet they were hoping to ship the AirPods before the holidays, but were holding out hope that Airpower would work. https://twitter.com/rouven81/status/1110980080170340352 https://twitter.com/rouven81/status/1110980080170340352 https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/12/apple-hey-siri-support-airpods/ https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/12/apple-hey-siri-support-...

golem14 8y ago
My completely uneducated guess is a behind-the-scenes patent dispute or something along those lines...
- sovnade 8y ago
  IFixit has a good article on it. Basically they couldn't get it to pass wireless emissions standards the way they wanted to do it (put your phone anywhere on the pad to charge not, not directly on the circle, etc).
  - Calcite 8y ago
    Link: https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/ https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/
- georgespencer 8y ago
  Would be quite rare for a patent dispute to go on behind the scenes. There were a lot of leaks suggesting mass production was due to start. I would bet production did not start, and that early production runs had low yields due to the complexity of the product.
  - speedplane 8y ago
    > Would be quite rare for a patent dispute to go on behind the scenes. Actually the opposite. Most patent disputes are resolved behind the scenes, long before anyone sues each other.
    - georgespencer 8y ago
      To my definition that makes it not a dispute! It's a commercial discussion with an agreement at the end of it.
      - simonh 8y ago
        If it breaks down to the point a product gets cancelled, that would be a dispute. However yes, usually in such circumstances it tends to go public.
      - speedplane 8y ago
        >> Most patent disputes are resolved behind the scenes, long before anyone sues each other > To my definition that makes it not a dispute! It's a commercial discussion with an agreement at the end of it. Patent trolls send thousands of companies demands to pay royalties on a technology they never directly used. Fighting the troll costs hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars, but they are only asking for $50k. Most companies begrudgingly pay. To me, that's still a dispute.
clay_the_ripper 8y ago
This is exactly what happened. I was super surprised they didn’t realize AirPods 2 before Christmas, but I guess they figured people would buy gen 1 anyway. Then they release the new airpods in combination with their other launches of the iPads etc when they realized that AirPower wasn’t going to happen. Then they dump AirPower after the release so as to not taint sales of AirPods 2 on launch day.
ulfw 8y ago
I am sorry to say but that’s what happens when you don’t have a proper product management org. Unbelievable in a large company like Apple but they do not have a Head of Product / CPO and are basically still a Sales and Marketing company with attached Engineering departments. There has been something very very wrong with products not getting out the door at Apple over the last few years. How does it take years to update a MacPro, a MacMini, an iPhone SE, Airpower never made it out the door, Airpods delayed by half a year, the iPhone - it’s biggest seller is on a 3year refreshment cycle now instead of 2 years, other peripherals like Airport Wifi cancelled and please let’s not even get started about software which was either cancelled (Aperture) or is being outpaced due to slow release cycles. Apple needs to get a ship / get out the door mentality again!
- xuki 8y ago
  Steve Jobs was their Head of Product :(.
  - thruhiker 8y ago
    I've heard product managers described as "mini-CEOs" before. I don't think it's a comprehensive description, but it speaks to ownership mentality I think.
    - emdowling 8y ago
      Product Managers should never be mini-CEOs. That is a model naive, ego-driven junior PMs adopt. Good PMs should be servant leaders, doing whatever it takes to ensure their team can have maximum impact and ownership. A big part of that is identifying new opportunities, both within the org and outside of it, and empowering engineers and designers to own what they are working on.
      - ekrebs 8y ago
        You just described a good CEO. Considering you limited it to engineers and designers, maybe a miniature CEO.

by mackey 8y ago

golem14 8y ago

My completely uneducated guess is a behind-the-scenes patent dispute or something along those lines...

sovnade 8y ago
IFixit has a good article on it. Basically they couldn't get it to pass wireless emissions standards the way they wanted to do it (put your phone anywhere on the pad to charge not, not directly on the circle, etc).
- Calcite 8y ago
  Link: https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/ https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/
georgespencer 8y ago
Would be quite rare for a patent dispute to go on behind the scenes. There were a lot of leaks suggesting mass production was due to start. I would bet production did not start, and that early production runs had low yields due to the complexity of the product.
- speedplane 8y ago
  > Would be quite rare for a patent dispute to go on behind the scenes. Actually the opposite. Most patent disputes are resolved behind the scenes, long before anyone sues each other.
  - georgespencer 8y ago
    To my definition that makes it not a dispute! It's a commercial discussion with an agreement at the end of it.
    - simonh 8y ago
      If it breaks down to the point a product gets cancelled, that would be a dispute. However yes, usually in such circumstances it tends to go public.
    - speedplane 8y ago
      >> Most patent disputes are resolved behind the scenes, long before anyone sues each other > To my definition that makes it not a dispute! It's a commercial discussion with an agreement at the end of it. Patent trolls send thousands of companies demands to pay royalties on a technology they never directly used. Fighting the troll costs hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars, but they are only asking for $50k. Most companies begrudgingly pay. To me, that's still a dispute.

clay_the_ripper 8y ago

This is exactly what happened. I was super surprised they didn’t realize AirPods 2 before Christmas, but I guess they figured people would buy gen 1 anyway. Then they release the new airpods in combination with their other launches of the iPads etc when they realized that AirPower wasn’t going to happen. Then they dump AirPower after the release so as to not taint sales of AirPods 2 on launch day.

ulfw 8y ago

I am sorry to say but that’s what happens when you don’t have a proper product management org. Unbelievable in a large company like Apple but they do not have a Head of Product / CPO and are basically still a Sales and Marketing company with attached Engineering departments. There has been something very very wrong with products not getting out the door at Apple over the last few years. How does it take years to update a MacPro, a MacMini, an iPhone SE, Airpower never made it out the door, Airpods delayed by half a year, the iPhone - it’s biggest seller is on a 3year refreshment cycle now instead of 2 years, other peripherals like Airport Wifi cancelled and please let’s not even get started about software which was either cancelled (Aperture) or is being outpaced due to slow release cycles. Apple needs to get a ship / get out the door mentality again!

xuki 8y ago
Steve Jobs was their Head of Product :(.
- thruhiker 8y ago
  I've heard product managers described as "mini-CEOs" before. I don't think it's a comprehensive description, but it speaks to ownership mentality I think.
  - emdowling 8y ago
    Product Managers should never be mini-CEOs. That is a model naive, ego-driven junior PMs adopt. Good PMs should be servant leaders, doing whatever it takes to ensure their team can have maximum impact and ownership. A big part of that is identifying new opportunities, both within the org and outside of it, and empowering engineers and designers to own what they are working on.
    - ekrebs 8y ago
      You just described a good CEO. Considering you limited it to engineers and designers, maybe a miniature CEO.