Apple Headphone, Camera Patents Reveal Obsession With Design Details

http://www.fastcompany.com/1690956/headphone-camera-patents-reveal-apples-obsession-with-design-detail?partner=homepage_newsletter

by jrwoodruff • 16 years ago

28 23 16 years ago

fastcompany.com

stcredzero4• 16 years ago

Then how about making earpods/headsets that don't suck and fall apart? (To be fair, I've heard that the Apple in-ear ones are decent, at least to start.)

doron• 16 years ago

Agreed, in terms of Audio quality, the Apple headphones are their worst product.

CERTIORARI• 16 years ago

In terms of Audio quality, the Apple mouse is even worse.

ugh• 16 years ago

They sound better than the cheap $15 earphones Sony or Philips wills sell you. They are much better than pretty much anything that comes with any other device.

They still suck. But they suck less than the competition.

cstross• 16 years ago

Apple's in-ear phones are indeed vastly better than the default earbuds -- in fact, they compare favourably with similarly-priced offerings from Shure and Etymotic, and are competitive on price.

I suspect Apple's standard "free" earbuds are actually deliberately bad because they're intended to upsell the customer on a better pair of earphones -- and a customer who's buying in an Apple store will of course be exposed to Apple's in-ear phones as a possible upgrade.

(Full disclosure: I use a pair of Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10's which kick the shit out of the Apple ear canal phones ... on the other hand, they're a lot more expensive. In the sub-$100 earphone range, the Apple in-ear phones are fine.)

stcredzero4• 16 years ago

I have a pair of Etymotic ER4P's. http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er4.aspx

They are truly reference-class equipment. (My Brain-Age2 word-discrimination score would jump a whopping amount just by using those!) I don't use them unless I'm on a plane, though. In-ear is just too much effort/overhead for me.

These Sennheisers had decent sound and folded up to fit in a dandy little case. However, my girlfriend at the time told me that they look so dorky, she didn't want to be seen in public with me wearing them. http://amzn.com/B001NZ8PHQ

Then I told her that there's even better sounding headphones (non-iPhone) in the same price range that look even dorkier. She didn't believe me until I sent her the link. http://amzn.com/B00001P4ZH

Apple needs to solve the headphone/headset design problem!

aweida• 16 years ago

My brother in law works at apple, he says that the in_ear headsets are terrible plus twice the cost...

tvon2• 16 years ago

I do not recommend the Apple in-ear ones. I got a pair of $15 in-ear headphones that sound much, much beter (compared to the $70 for the Apple set). The Apple pair sounded tinny, which for the price really isn't worth it.

Now to find ones that sound good but have a mic+remote...

edit: them cheap earbuds that sounded better IMO - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I68BD4/

zzygan• 16 years ago

The main problem with the Apple in ears buds is the seal. Fix the seal with some decent buds like http://www.complyfoam.com/Product/T%7B48%7D400 and the bass comes. Its nearly as good as my westone UM2's that I have. All it took was some cheap foam

qwzybug• 16 years ago

The in-ear phones have great sound, but they fall apart after about six months unless you're super OCD about wrapping them up in the case every time.

smackfu• 16 years ago

I just assumed that the rubber was supposed to come off after about a month of use, since it happens so regularly.

protomyth2• 16 years ago

"Obsession with Design Details" lead to high profits.

edwincheese• 16 years ago

However many management people believed that customers don't care design details and it can't sell

gloob• 16 years ago

It is worth noting that, as evidenced by the fact that (e.g.) Toshiba still sells plenty of computers, many customers really don't care that much about design details. No doubt there are many who do, and no doubt there is a third group that vacillates back and forth depending upon what seems trendy that year or what their friends have or whatever.

TrevorJ• 16 years ago

I wish this obsession carried over to the UX of some of the more recent software, most notably the new itunes. I'm floored with how many clicks it takes to purchase something in the itunes store these days :(

InclinedPlane• 16 years ago

Every company has engineers who obsess over every tiny design detail. The trick is having a management structure that allows the good ideas to flourish without getting swamped by all the impractical or unhelpful ideas.

This is an incredibly difficult problem which is itself composed of several incredibly difficult problems (related to corporate culture, hiring, promotions, process, etc, etc.) The difficulty of this is easy to see when you compare the fit and finish of the average piece of software or hardware on the market, for example. Most are just agglomerations of feature-sets that have been whacked with a mallet until they fit together roughly and hit with a bit of sandpaper to take off a few of the biggest splinters and sharp corners.

Apple Headphone, Camera Patents Reveal Obsession With Design Details

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