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Apple's Unusual Headset Design Has Led to Unprecedented Production Challenges
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Do you wear glasses? If Apple gets this light enough, I could see myself wearing one. But I already need to wear glasses when doing anything that requires any reading, so it isn't such a big leap to go from regular glasses to smart glasses.
What if the headset was comfortable enough to wear all day? And the battery pack light enough to have strapped to your waist all day? Then the only setup you need to do is hook up the cable to connect the two, which would take about as much time/effort as putting on wired earphones.
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Can’t believe we are only five days away! Just five!!! 🖐️
WWDC23
WWDC23I can’t wait see Tim hyping this, with the charisma of a gnat: “We’re so excited to share this revolutionary new product with you. It has incredible features that create truly life-changing, immersive experiences. At Apple, we love nothing more than giving our customers products that truly impact their lives.”
I get it and appreciate the effort to make it as cutting-edge as possible, but anything "worn" has to be robust and durable. This sounds like it's fragile and almost impossible to repair. Fragile $3000. wearable tech does not sound good.
Except, Tons of people said the storage space was too small (*"less space than a nomad, lame")..
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In retrospect - think of all the challenges Apple face building the first Macintosh and look where we are now.
Have you seen pictures of the Apple I?
Yeah and it took 3 to 4 generations before anything other than the phone part worked right! Not even App Store for the first year!
Because the software for it was written for the Glasses, and they couldn't build them. They built this device to demo the software, and Tim said ship it...which has the whole company freaking out.
All other points aside, I really hope the comment about glasses wearers is wrong.
I would guess the percentage of wearers who may be a buyer is quite high.
Apart from the cost, I wonder how many opticians will be happy to supply custom sized and shaped lens only, with no frames, for a product they have no clue about.
Unless they are exclusively available via Apple, for $$$$$$
I would guess the percentage of wearers who may be a buyer is quite high.
Apart from the cost, I wonder how many opticians will be happy to supply custom sized and shaped lens only, with no frames, for a product they have no clue about.
Unless they are exclusively available via Apple, for $$$$$$
Actually, I've often taken old frames to glasses stores who were happy to provide lenses for frames they had no part in selling. Bose's had these audio glasses for a while, and my glasses store said they could make prescriptions lenses to fit those. So if Apple does this right, they could make it easy for regular glasses stores to make lenses for their headset.
Bluetooth Headphones & Wireless Headphones | Bose
Enjoy performance and comfort with Bose headphones. Choose from a wide range of Bluetooth headphones that bring you closer to the music you love.
That article can’t possibly be true. The experts here keep saying that it can’t possibly be worth over 199.99.
I think you are mistaken, the polishing cloth alone will be 199.99!
This is going to be such a success as Curved TVs or 3D TVs.
This is going to be a big fail and of course it is easy to say but I did not say that for the first iPhone, ipod, airpods ... this is not something we didn't know we needed, this is something we don't need and very few will buy ... ok I will probably consider buying one at 100 dollar mark!!
This is going to be a big fail and of course it is easy to say but I did not say that for the first iPhone, ipod, airpods ... this is not something we didn't know we needed, this is something we don't need and very few will buy ... ok I will probably consider buying one at 100 dollar mark!!
At least the Liquid Metal spray that is used with the magic clothe will be included. Of course it won’t. That’s an extra 99.99 and is enough for only 3 cleanings.
What were the uses of the Apple I (in 1976) for the average consumer? This will be a primitive product compared to what they will be building for consumers 8 years later and then 47 years later.
Trying to wear glasses under a VR headset is just the worst, and dedicated enthusiasts (of say, the kind who would buy a $3000 headset) would buy custom lens mounts anyway. Apple's making life easier for that group by removing the need to get the fittings from a third party like VR Optician (as is currently needed for the Quest 2, Valve Index, etc).
Opticians do that all the time. It's less common with tech-related stuff, but requests like replacing old lenses in sunglasses, unusually-shaped glasses frames, etc are just a standard part of the business. I've had it done myself a few times with new prescriptions for old frames.
Those "I'm not going to wear something on my face!" arguments are the funniest kind of pushback comment I've seen. Like, yes, obviously most people are never going to feel comfortable wearing a full-sized VR headset in public... but we already know that there's a point at which people will wear things on their face without thinking twice, because those things are called glasses.
To be fair, the "company" that created the Apple I was a completely different thing than Apple today.
Apple I was a foray into hobbyists. They learned—quickly—they needed something more polished. And they knew there was a some demand. They created Apple II.
The apple that would do anything as primitive as Apple I no longer exists. The concept of "primitive" is very different for Apple today.
Now, Apple will launch something that is far short of what they envision for the future. I think they didn't really produce the iPhone they really wanted until around iPhone 5-ish. Same with Watch...series 5. They still launch something they can sell and evolve that represents some vision of a product.
Whatever they announce/launch next week will look complete(ish)—unlike Apple I—but will seem "primitive" after they hit generation 4, 5, or 6 when it really hits its stride.
With Apple’s limited production capabilities, you could sell it later for twice the price… 😉