Beats Acquisition Boosting Apple's 'Coolness' Factor Among Young Consumers

[Cougarcat]

I guess I'm old now. I don't know anyone who thinks they're cool. They scream "douche" to me. But good for Apple I guess.

Even Mac OSX is getting a kid tastic makeover!

Thank goodness for the dark mode + graphite.

 

[roland.g]

Does this mean that Windows laptops will still be available with Beats Audio logos on them?

 

[bpeeps]

 

[scott911]

the problem with beats is not entirely that they artificially boost the bass - although it's much sensible to just do that in the EQ of your device if you want...

The problem is that the quality of the bass is lacking - it's poor, indistinct, muffled.

But to each their own...

 

[TWSS37]

I’m after some Sennheiser Momentums.
When I buy, I tend to make a shortlist with my eyes first and see if I can find something on it that meets my specs.
I saw the Momentums and knew that if they sounded good they were mine.

I don’t like the look of a single pair of Beats that I’ve seen but I won’t slate others for their purchases.

Just got some AT ATH-m50x's and they are by far and away the best headphones I've used (and I've used a lot )

 

[Diode]

And severs the loyalty factor on regular Apple fans.

The iPod and iPhone are already cool, we don't need to impress 12 year old ex-Blackberry users.

Uh as a shareholder I beg to differ. Get em while they are young - it worked for the tobacco industry.

A 12 year old customer will eventually turn into someone much older

 

[dweezle3]

Student here.

Just to clarify - none of us think that Apple buying Beats will make them "cooler". We all buy Beats headphones and Apple products for the same reason we do anything: everyone else is doing it and that makes it cool. Nobody buys Macs for their quality, we just buy them because our parents are usually paying for them and we don't care how much it costs if it's cool. Same thing with Beats. Everyone knows that there's much better quality headphones out there (for much cheaper too), but we don't care about sound quality. Wearing Beats makes you cooler than the guy who's wearing those weird silver, grown-up looking cans that lack a certain letter red letter on the side.

Basically, unless we're footing the bill (and sometimes even then), how well something works is so far down the list of priorities below how cool it is that it's hardly a deciding factor in purchases for us.

 

[sza]

I heard that Beats is only good for Dr Dre's music...

If you are serious about music, you should go for Sennheiser or BeyerDynamics.

 

[Ajones330]

Okay it blows my mind how everyone talks down on the Beats acquisition. Who will be the future market for Apple. Young people that are getting older now. It's all about brand loyalty and if Beats makes Apple look cool to young teens or college students then smart move. After buying my 1st Apple product I was hooked. Same goes for most consumers, so now you have someone that didn't care for Apple but knew of the Beats brand. They may go in to purchase a pair of headsets with a iPad or MacBook. This is what Apple is hoping Beats does for them. New consumers

 

[0xyMoron]

No one on this site cares about Beats, MacRumors.

Give it up.

I do and i'm interested in how this is gonna turn out.

Personally i didn't pay a penny for this acquisition to take place so i won't get a heart attack if things turn south but i'm cheering for Apple to make the best of it. Apple's consistency among other things is credited to their in-touch with reality, althouth at times they show up late to the party but they get it just right, this acquisition helps them get a better grip of their direction as a company.

 

[BigHonkingDeal]

I think this says all you need to know about Apple's space in the marketplace these days.

The problem is that Apple is on it's way to become the "My Space" of the smart phones for a lot of young people who are getting bored with iPhones....

I don't know if buying Beats will prevent this though, more cool features would probably be better.

 

[Mugambo]

Beats this Beats that, can you program those headphones using Swift programming language?

 

[dweezle3]

Disclaimer: as a student, I represent the student "population" but do not necessarily subscribe to or endorse the views depicted above

 

[chirpie]

Hmmm, I'm skeptical. I thought this younger generation was less concerned with 'cool factor' than ever before. (More cynical towards typical marketing.)

Heck, even the phrase 'cool factor' makes my eyes roll.

 

[TWSS37]

The problem is that Apple is on it's way to become the "My Space" of the smart phones for a lot of young people who are getting bored with iPhones....

I don't know if buying Beats will prevent this though, more cool features would probably be better.

Well IMO Apple kind of dug their own grave here. By creating product(s) that are so easy to use that a 2 year old could literally operate it, it also created a desirable product for an older generation uninterested in learning the nuances of computing products. So while 2 year old kids aren't (presently) buying iProducts, plenty of 50, 60+ aged people (AKA your parents) are. And who wants the same thing as their parents are using?

 

[Benzy]

younger consumers who buy Beats are more interested in appearance than audio quality.

and Apple fans are any different? Many Apple fans pay the premium Apple tax for Apple products because they look good and they have an Apple logo on it.

 

[Orlandoech]

I guess I'm old now. I don't know anyone who thinks they're cool. They scream "douche" to me. But good for Apple I guess.




Thank goodness for the dark mode + graphite.

They scream "raging douche" to me.

----------

and Apple fans are any different? Many Apple fans pay the premium Apple tax for Apple products because they look good and they have an Apple logo on it.

As an Apple fan, I agree to an extend. The quality of the aluminum chassis is of quality compared to plastic PC laptops. A PC with the same specs is far less.

 

[dweezle3]

Hmmm, I'm skeptical. I thought this younger generation was less concerned with 'cool factor' than ever before. (More cynical towards typical marketing.)

We're cynical towards everything that we aren't all obsessed with. If you ask anyone to pick the "better" headphones between Sennheiser's and Beat's, everyone would pick the Sennheiser's. We know what quality is, we just don't particularly care about it.

On the other hand, people are nearly expected to buy a Mac for college. The only people that are cynical of that decision are the engineers and gamers that build their own computers for fun or spend thousands rigging up high end gaming systems. Again, those are much better suited for their needs, but we don't buy things based on what we need.

...actually, we're in college, we don't buy anything

 

[Mr. McMac]

Beats are the worst headphones I've ever heard, even worse than Bose. Both companies make overpriced junk.. It shows you Apple only cares about is making money. I guess I can't blame them. That said, I've lost my respect for Apple. Not that anybody cares.....

 

[Archnem]

In my experience the only people that like Beats headphones are people who have no idea what good sound quality is, or think a lot of base equals good quality, and let's not forget the ones that buy Beats solely because they make them look "cool".

Personally, like someone else mentioned in the thread, I think they make people look like douches.

Maybe I think that, because anyone that wears any brand of headphones on their neck and is not currently djaying at a party is a douche.

 

[dweezle3]

And who wants the same thing as their parents are using?

Aaaand you've just solved the question of why everyone my age is leaving Facebook for Snapchat and Vine. Although with this new messaging in iOS 8, I don't think Snapchat will be around too much longer...

 

[Orlandoech]

I heard that Beats is only good for Dr Dre's music...

If you are serious about music, you should go for Sennheiser or BeyerDynamics.

Correction* If you're serious about music, you should go for ANYTHING but Beats, unless you like pure bass @ $300+, I mean, lets be real, Beats to appeal to specific demographics.

While I mainly listen to Rap, HipHop and R&B, I do not own Beats nor will I ever and I do not like bass heavy headphones or earphones or speakerphones or speakers.

 

[TRS-80]

Young people are apparently clueless as to what's cool.

 

[dweezle3]

Beats are the worst headphones I've ever heard, even worse than Bose. Both companies make overpriced junk...

To be fair, my Bose headphones are the most comfortable thing I've ever worn on my head. But yes, I completely agree about Beats xD

 

[Archnem]

Beats are the worst headphones I've ever heard, even worse than Bose. Both companies make overpriced junk.. It shows you Apple only cares about is making money. I guess I can't blame them. That said, I've lost my respect for Apple. Not that anybody cares.....

Clueless young people like Beats, and clueless old people like Bose.