regurgitatedcoprolite

Having used a pair of AirPods since before Christmas (yes, I was one of the fortunate ones who ordered within an hour of them being available), I find them to be comfortable to the point of forgetting I have them in my ears after a few minutes. Before the firmware update that was recently released, I had connectivity problems a few times, i.e., they'd cut off in the middle of a phone call [using a 6s], but that seems to have gone away since the update. 

I have significant hearing loss in my left ear, so I use the accessibility settings to send higher volume to my left ear and in mono as well. The proximity sensor seems to work most of the time, but it is not perfect. When I take one of the pods out of my ear, whatever I'm listening to usually pauses but not always. This is not a big issue, more like a minor annoyance. Voice quality through AirPods, such as making phone calls, seems to be excellent judging by the feedback from those on the receiving end of my calls. I drive a fairly noisy Sprinter conversion van, and my wife says the AirPods get rid of almost all the background noise. 

Because of hearing loss, obviously, I'm not an audiophile, but I find the sound quality to be good to excellent. Siri works well most of the time; sometimes I use "her" to change volume, which works, but I mostly use her for initiating calls and such. Doubling-tapping to invoke Siri, takes getting used to, as it takes sharp taps to get the accelerometers to register the tapping, but I get the double tap right at least 3/4 of the time. 

All-in-all, I'm happy with my AirPods. In fact, amazed how much electronics Apple is able to pack inside such small devices...which reminds me how nice the charging / storage case is. As others have noted, it is typical Apple - rounded, smooth feel; lid pops open easily and closes securely because of magnetic latch, and the pods get "sucked" into the case by magnets so they are securely held in place. At first, it was awkward pulling the pods out, but after a few days, I am able to just pop them out easily without thinking. 

Very happy with AirPods and highly recommend them to anyone who likes EarPods and needs a wireless connection. This reminds me how wonderful it is to not have to mess with wires. I'm not the most patient person on earth when it comes to untangling things, so not having wires to tangle with everything and get snagged by doorknobs, things in my van, around the house, makes life calmer and more enjoyable. 

[Oh, and the only time I have lost an AirPod was sitting at my desk when I dropped one on the floor. It bounced off my foot to places unknown. Thanks to having installed the iOS 10.3 beta a few days before, I was able to use "Find My AirPods" to locate the lost pod. Obviously, this feature works and is invaluable.]

ravnorodom said:

No wireless charging? This is going backward! No thanks. I am sticking with my 2nd gen.

Yes, going "backward" for $50 less than the 2nd generation, that is still available. 

ericthehalfbee said:

gatorguy said:

maestro64 said:

If you have not listen to the Apple insider pod cast on this subject, you should.

 Everyone wants too blame Facebook since it is easier to blame someone else, but most need to look no further than their own mirror. I never bought in to the Facebook thing and always felt it would be bad. I also valued my privacy over getting free things. 

I learned a few things from the pod cast, basically anyone who is pissed off your own information may have been used against you, you have to remember you got something free and you gave facebook the right to use your information the way they like. They never had to ask you if it was okay to allow third parts to use your information, you gave up that right by creating that account.

If you want to protect your information. Then stop using free stuff, and pay for your services.

Paying for something doesn't make the "selling you" issue go away.

Between retailers sharing your purchases, banks/credit card providers sharing your financial history, your cellular provider sharing your use data, the government sharing your driving, ownership, and legal history, pharmacy's sharing your prescription history, schools sharing your education history, and recent sharing issues even within Apple (China and likely Russia too, data sharing with publishers within Apple News and targeted ads within the App Store, and the new Apple supported Cloud Act that eases and simplifies the sharing of personal data with "friendlies") this whole conversation about "privacy" is little more than marketing fluff IMHO.

All those paid services don't "protect your privacy" if the provider sees value in sharing it, economically or politically, more so than in keeping it to themselves. Words are easy. Actions are just a tad more difficult. 

Please. The sum total of everything you listed pales in comparison to what Google or Facebook know about you. Also funny how you slip Apple into your list to imply they are somehow on the same level. They aren't.

This is going to come back to bite Google and Facebook in the ass. Hard. It was only a matter of time before something happened that would bring privacy issues and data collection out into the public eye. Apple is going to come out of this smelling like a rose while Google and Facebook will smell like the piles of horseshit they are.

VAVOOM, Eric! I strictly avoid Goophabet and FB and use Better (by indie) tracker blocker on all my Apple devices.

In more than 20 years of scouring the web and reading articles about the tech world, I've never seen anything like the following from Patrick Berlinquette. He is the only person I've read who fleshes out the euphemism Go-ogle hides behind, "monetizing users' data".

The rest of the media goes out of its way to keep the public from knowing Go-ogle makes 90% of its revenue from advertising through surveillance capitalism, otherwise, Mr. Berlinquette wouldn't have to go out of his way to explain it. Think about it, when have you ever heard anyone on TV tell you anything even remotely like what Patrick does in his 3-part (supposed to have a 4th part added later) series (see links below)? The answer's NEVER!

_______

When lazy journalists are pessimistic about Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home, they say stuff like: “Even Orwell couldn’t have predicted that we’d willingly bring Big Brother into our own homes."

What they fail to mention is our willingness to exchange privacy for convenience didn’t start with the advent of virtual assistants. It started in the early 2000s, when people—in return for having access to Google products and seeing more relevant ads—allowed Google to have all their data.

Today, Google provides marketers like me with so much of your personal data that we can infer more about you from it than from any camera or microphone.

     ~ Patrick Berlinquette from How Google Tracks Your Personal Information

Part 1: How Google Tracks Your Personal Information: 

     https://medium.com/s/story/the-complete-unauthorized-checklist-of-how-google-tracks-you-3c3abc10781d

Part 2: How Google Marketers Exploit Your Discomfort:

     https://medium.com/s/story/make-orwell-fiction-again-part-2-micro-moments-9ba6e042a0c4

Part 3: How Marketers Use Redirect Ads to Deceive You:

     https://medium.com/s/story/make-orwell-fiction-again-part-3-masters-of-our-fates-620a84792482

mac_128 said:

macxpress said:

Never a fan of what Steve would have though articles or comments....oh well. Nobody truly knows what Steve would have though. I guess it was kind of a Steve Job jobs type Keynote, especially the movies portion at the end. I will say that was very well done. Hopefully it turns out as good as the Keynote did in the end. 

Frankly I can’t believe any legitimate article, opinion or not, would trade on the concept of “Steve Jobs would have ....”. And I’m absolutely stunned AI would do it. Such articles completely undermine the credibility of not just the person presenting the article, but the website itself.

Check out Daniel’s title for the article on his own roughlydraftedbeta.com: https://roughlydraftedbeta.com/home/2019/3/30/why-did-apple-throw-a-tim-cook-event-at-its-steve-jobs-theater, which, by the way, was published before it showed up here at AI.

Apple makes products they sell to their customers.

_ oo _ le sells users' personal data to make ads, and aren't ads what make life worth living?!

It’s hard to stomach these guys knowing that they despise Apple and its products. 

And their hyperbolic tone is hard to take. 

Conclusion: They’re goobers first class. 

USB-C should be made the standard for charging EV's around the world. 

Voilà !

I'm glad to see Apple addressing the noise problem in its stores. My nearest Apple Store, La Cantera in San Antonio, open since 2005, was built with a flat, reflective ceiling. That along with reflective flooring, tables, and walls make having a conversation difficult. 

I've always loved this particular store and have been connected with many employees, but the noise really gets in the way. 

I saw an article somewhere a couple of years ago about one of the stores in the Seattle area, and it showed the wooden ceiling with thousands of tiny dimples in it, which I assumed were there to improve acoustics. Tried to find someone who'd written about it but no luck. 

It's good to see Apple is working to control the noise. 

More pertinent questions:

How was it determined these employees tested positive for CV? What tests were used? What is the accuracy, reliability, and rate of false positives for the test?

How many of the "positive" employees, if any, have symptoms of illness?