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I thought it was an appropriate description. I did not read any “menace” or “treachery” into the use of the word “quiet”. The rest of the article mentions that
by lstamour 6y ago
I thought it was an appropriate description. I did not read any “menace” or “treachery” into the use of the word “quiet”.
The rest of the article mentions that new headphones are on the way according to rumour, that only Logitech’s headphones and portable speakers were pulled rather than the entire line of Logitech accessories, and that up until now, Apple has been comfortable selling both its first party headphones and third party ones, “and let the best product win” and then publicly asks “what changed?”
The implications are strong, no need for “vague menace” here. Apple will sell more of their product if the only headphones you can buy from them are their own headphones, assuming they have a captive audience, of course.
The obvious undertone is that their headphones might not be as good as third party ones — more expensive, fewer features, but who knows until they’re actually announced, of course.
In the big picture, this could also indicate a pivot away from Apple selling third-party devices that don’t directly act as accessories for their own products first and best.
- AmericanChopper 6y agoThis sounds like exactly the sort of vague menace the headline is designed to drum up. Nobody is captive to the Apple store. There is literally thousands of other places anybody could buy peripherals from. And if you’ve spent much time looking at what they stock, you might notice that Apple tends to stock more peripherals in the categories that it’s not very good at making in house, so the exact opposite inference could also be made.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoAdding the word "quietly" screams clickbait to me. I guess they have to earn their money too, so it's just part of the world now.
- rob74 6y agoWell, it's a headline, and making headlines sound more interesting is what newspapers have done for centuries, well before clicking on links was a thing. And the word "quietly" is fully justified, because Apple didn't announce that it was removing these items. So, it's only "borderline clickbait" in my opinion...
- lstamour 6y agoI think you’ve misunderstood my points in your second paragraph. I’m only suggesting a captive audience as in “those browsing to buy on Apple.com what is compatible with their iPhone/iPad/Mac/etc.” And the exact opposite inference is: “a pivot toward Apple selling more third-party devices that don’t directly act as accessories for their own products first and best” — which doesn’t make sense. Maybe the confusion is over first and best? I meant that Apple is entrenching its ecosystem play by making automatic headphone connection a feature exclusive to Apple-built headphones, and that they could do the same in other markets. For instance, why sell an FLIR add-on infrared camera when you could make it an iPhone Pro feature in 2-3 years? My suggestion is that the Apple Store is quickly becoming a place that serves Apple more than its customers, and Apple seems to be okay with that, for now at least. It’s the retail store equivalent to not being able to buy digital books from anywhere but the Apple Books store. Just as you have to use Safari to buy books from your iPhone, you’ll have to visit third-parties for more accessories that don’t directly attach to or increase the value of your Apple device. Because the addons Apple most wants to sell you are the ones they make themselves, and thus have the most profit margin for...
- AmericanChopper 6y ago> I’m only suggesting a captive audience as in “those browsing to buy on Apple.com what is compatible with their iPhone/iPad/Mac/etc.” This is even more outright ridiculous than your last claim. Nobody is help captive at the Apple store. If you're browsing apple.com for a product, your captivity ends buy opening the website of any other online retailer. Yet, you somehow manage to go further into some insane rabbit hole by suggesting that because a few 3rd products were dropped by the online Apple store, that this is a signal that Apple is start dropping support for 3rd party peripherals? When people say that HN just automatically hates anything Apple does, this is exactly what they're talking about. There's no rationale to a comment like this, it literally just comes off as deranged. Apple often does make "the best" accessories for it's own devices, but it doesn't always, and the 3rd party ones work just as well. My Sony headphones work just as well with my iPhone as my Beats ones do. Apple doesn't even make the best mouse for Macbooks or iPads. Logitech does. There is not a single ounce of reality in anything you just said.