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> The first generation of the AirPods was generally regarded as a perfect product If you don't care about sound quality, isolation, noise cancelation, mic qual

> The first generation of the AirPods was generally regarded as a perfect product If you don't care about sound quality, isolation, noise cancelation, mic quality, or using it with a non-apple device of any kind, sure. In other words, if you primarily care about form and only peripherally about function. Edit: for reference, rtings gave them a 6.4 https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-1-truly-wireless-2017 https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-1-tr...

dewey 6y ago
The first generation was never advertised as having a noise cancellation feature so I'm not sure why that that should be a negative point. They also work well with non-apple devices as they can just be paired via Bluetooth like any other wireless headphones.
- Godel_unicode 6y ago
  A perfect product would be a product which has all the features you would want. How do you adjust their onboard eq from your Android phone? Change their settings in any other way than volume? Unless you use the word perfect to mean something other than "having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics".
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > How do you adjust their onboard eq from your Android phone? Almost nobody wants to do this. It's a vanishingly minor requirement. You end up with a 'Homer Car' forcing all these wacky features in. I'd actively prefer a product that's simpler, without features like this.
    - Godel_unicode 6y ago
      HN: anything other than totally free software is a crime against humanity. Also HN: Apple knows best, don't adjust your radio. If you think the audio could be better, you're the problem. What a horrifyingly boring world we are building in the name of "simplicity"
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        Yeah, guilty, I want simple, boring, but perfectly formed products. I think many people do.
chrisseaton 6y ago
They didn't advertise any isolation or noice cancelation features, did they? > if you primarily care about form and only peripherally about function Well yeah the form was the revolutionary bit about the AirPods. I'm sure I could get a longer list of fancy functionality squeezed into an ugly pair of baubles if I didn't care about form, but what I want is something tiny and simple for daily use. I think that's what most people want outside the tech bubble. Yet again Apple showing that a genuinely well-formed product is better than something that looks better technically on paper from the list of functionality. Creating a great product isn't about functionality Top Trumps as you think it is.
- Godel_unicode 6y ago
  The standard for something to be perfect isn't just that it only has the features which it is advertised to have. Lots of terrible cars aren't advertised as having very low road noise; that doesn't make them perfect cars.
skywhopper 6y ago
Lots of people don’t want isolation or noise cancellation, only need them to work with Apple products, and find the audio quality more than acceptable. It has nothing to do with “form” over function. In fact the original Airpods are quite superior in function to any similar product at the same price point.

dewey 6y ago

The first generation was never advertised as having a noise cancellation feature so I'm not sure why that that should be a negative point. They also work well with non-apple devices as they can just be paired via Bluetooth like any other wireless headphones.

Godel_unicode 6y ago
A perfect product would be a product which has all the features you would want. How do you adjust their onboard eq from your Android phone? Change their settings in any other way than volume? Unless you use the word perfect to mean something other than "having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics".
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > How do you adjust their onboard eq from your Android phone? Almost nobody wants to do this. It's a vanishingly minor requirement. You end up with a 'Homer Car' forcing all these wacky features in. I'd actively prefer a product that's simpler, without features like this.
  - Godel_unicode 6y ago
    HN: anything other than totally free software is a crime against humanity. Also HN: Apple knows best, don't adjust your radio. If you think the audio could be better, you're the problem. What a horrifyingly boring world we are building in the name of "simplicity"
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      Yeah, guilty, I want simple, boring, but perfectly formed products. I think many people do.

chrisseaton 6y ago

They didn't advertise any isolation or noice cancelation features, did they? > if you primarily care about form and only peripherally about function Well yeah the form was the revolutionary bit about the AirPods. I'm sure I could get a longer list of fancy functionality squeezed into an ugly pair of baubles if I didn't care about form, but what I want is something tiny and simple for daily use. I think that's what most people want outside the tech bubble. Yet again Apple showing that a genuinely well-formed product is better than something that looks better technically on paper from the list of functionality. Creating a great product isn't about functionality Top Trumps as you think it is.

Godel_unicode 6y ago
The standard for something to be perfect isn't just that it only has the features which it is advertised to have. Lots of terrible cars aren't advertised as having very low road noise; that doesn't make them perfect cars.

skywhopper 6y ago

Lots of people don’t want isolation or noise cancellation, only need them to work with Apple products, and find the audio quality more than acceptable. It has nothing to do with “form” over function. In fact the original Airpods are quite superior in function to any similar product at the same price point.