AirPods Are Becoming a Platform?
This is peak tech journalism: uncritical wishful thinking.<p>A strong claim, I know, but hear me out.<p>1) these are very small bluetooth headphones.<p>2) They only work when attached to a smart phone<p>3) They are still headphones.<p>Another thing to note is that they are still a substandard user experience compared to 3.5mm jack and decent headphones ($50+ with non tangle wires)<p>Bluetooth headphones are great if you want to not have to fiddle with wires. But, they are capricious and run out of batteries.<p>The pros have both noise isolation _and_ reduction. But, they are still let in a boat load of noise, especially speaking.<p>For long term use, you have to sacrifice isolation for comfort. For the same price as airpod pros you can get custom moulded in ear monitors. 35db of noise reduction, and they don&#x27;t hurt.<p>The real selling point of ear buds is the fashion part. People are wearing them because they are a signal of how rich&#x2F;successful they are. (in the same way people wore those shitty ipod ear buds.)<p>As for a platform, what are they going to do to be useful? &quot;intelligent noise&quot;? but that requires situational awareness that doesn&#x27;t exist on smartphones yet.<p>They will be swept aside as soon as decent AR wearable pop onto the scene. Be that in 3 or 15 years.