4 ms·

FWIW, I see Apple watches everywhere in the U.S. Even (especially?) on totally normal people.

batiudrami 7y ago
Where in the US? I saw more Airpods during my 8 hour stopover in SF than I had seen in my entire life prior in Australia. It's a different world.
- rorykoehler 7y ago
  Loads of people wear them in Australia.
  - DEADBEEFC0FFEE 7y ago
    Certainly in Sydney. I notice because I think they're over priced at AU$250, and I'm surprised how many school kids have them. I would lose them in a week.
    - sundvor 7y ago
      Heaps in Melbourne as well. Personally I find them daggy; if they're anything like the earphones included with the iPhone 3 they'd fall out of my ears if I just turned my head. Samsung Buds OTOH stay in (and don't have the daggy bits hanging out).
      - toasterlovin 7y ago
        I also have had problems with Apple's wired earphones staying in, so I was skeptical of the AirPods. But they stay in great. Turns out that most of the problem was the weight of the cord.
    - canuckintime 7y ago
      > and I'm surprised how many school kids have them. You might also be surprised how many are knockoffs [1] which are rapidly improving in quality [2]: [1] https://www.macworld.com/article/3311456/airpods-knockoffs-tested-sometimes-you-get-what-you-pay-for.html https://www.macworld.com/article/3311456/airpods-knockoffs-t... [2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3wayRMK_s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3wayRMK_s
    - batiudrami 7y ago
      I know (I'm in Sydney regularly). But I reckon 1/10 people I saw walking down the street had airpods in on a Tuesday arvo in SF.
  - newshorts 7y ago
    I think you mean “heaps”
TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
In the UK they've sold well to C1s and some C2s, but not so much to the Bs and some As who are Apple's traditional market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRS_social_grade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRS_social_grade The amazing thing about the classic Apple designs was the way they managed to be textbook Veblen goods while also appearing to be gender and class neutral. They were aspirationally expensive, but not blingy. That changed when gold and pink started to creep into the design vocabulary and the prices started moving up. The classic designs were more democratic. Not everyone could afford them, but they managed the neat trick of appearing to be visually inclusive rather than aggressively exclusive. From that POV, Watch has been a design failure. It lacks the social status of the high-end I-have-money watch brands. It's neither expensive-but-neutral nor an outrageously self-indulgent statement product. The expensive straps and stainless steel variants made a pitch for the latter, but it was never convincing. As a signifier it's visually bland and even slightly vulgar, which is why it hasn't had the same cultural impact. It's also why it works for C1/C2s but not for the ABs. Sales may be fine, but in its current form it's never going to be the covert high status product that Apple used to do so well.
- throwaway2048 7y ago
  Apple products, while expensive in a general consumer goods sense are not anywhere near the pricing of a typical Veblen good, they have never been particularly status driven throughout their history in either computers or phones, and their sales violate the textbook definition of a Veblen good, sales dropped substantially when prices increased. Apple is much more in line with a premium brand driven good like Nike, or Sony. A true Veblen good phone would cost like $20000, be gold cased and nobody you know would own one.
  - arethuza 7y ago
    Vertu tried that approach with phones - didn't work out too well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertu [Only ever saw them on sales at Heathrow Terminal 5 and Courchevel 1850]

Where in the US? I saw more Airpods during my 8 hour stopover in SF than I had seen in my entire life prior in Australia. It's a different world.

rorykoehler 7y ago
Loads of people wear them in Australia.
- DEADBEEFC0FFEE 7y ago
  Certainly in Sydney. I notice because I think they're over priced at AU$250, and I'm surprised how many school kids have them. I would lose them in a week.
  - sundvor 7y ago
    Heaps in Melbourne as well. Personally I find them daggy; if they're anything like the earphones included with the iPhone 3 they'd fall out of my ears if I just turned my head. Samsung Buds OTOH stay in (and don't have the daggy bits hanging out).
    - toasterlovin 7y ago
      I also have had problems with Apple's wired earphones staying in, so I was skeptical of the AirPods. But they stay in great. Turns out that most of the problem was the weight of the cord.
  - canuckintime 7y ago
    > and I'm surprised how many school kids have them. You might also be surprised how many are knockoffs [1] which are rapidly improving in quality [2]: [1] https://www.macworld.com/article/3311456/airpods-knockoffs-tested-sometimes-you-get-what-you-pay-for.html https://www.macworld.com/article/3311456/airpods-knockoffs-t... [2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3wayRMK_s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml3wayRMK_s
  - batiudrami 7y ago
    I know (I'm in Sydney regularly). But I reckon 1/10 people I saw walking down the street had airpods in on a Tuesday arvo in SF.
- newshorts 7y ago
  I think you mean “heaps”

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago

In the UK they've sold well to C1s and some C2s, but not so much to the Bs and some As who are Apple's traditional market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRS_social_grade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRS_social_grade The amazing thing about the classic Apple designs was the way they managed to be textbook Veblen goods while also appearing to be gender and class neutral. They were aspirationally expensive, but not blingy. That changed when gold and pink started to creep into the design vocabulary and the prices started moving up. The classic designs were more democratic. Not everyone could afford them, but they managed the neat trick of appearing to be visually inclusive rather than aggressively exclusive. From that POV, Watch has been a design failure. It lacks the social status of the high-end I-have-money watch brands. It's neither expensive-but-neutral nor an outrageously self-indulgent statement product. The expensive straps and stainless steel variants made a pitch for the latter, but it was never convincing. As a signifier it's visually bland and even slightly vulgar, which is why it hasn't had the same cultural impact. It's also why it works for C1/C2s but not for the ABs. Sales may be fine, but in its current form it's never going to be the covert high status product that Apple used to do so well.

throwaway2048 7y ago
Apple products, while expensive in a general consumer goods sense are not anywhere near the pricing of a typical Veblen good, they have never been particularly status driven throughout their history in either computers or phones, and their sales violate the textbook definition of a Veblen good, sales dropped substantially when prices increased. Apple is much more in line with a premium brand driven good like Nike, or Sony. A true Veblen good phone would cost like $20000, be gold cased and nobody you know would own one.
- arethuza 7y ago
  Vertu tried that approach with phones - didn't work out too well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertu [Only ever saw them on sales at Heathrow Terminal 5 and Courchevel 1850]