Kirk McElhearn:

Yesterday Apple introduced AirPods. What a mistake.

While I appreciate the uniqueness of these headphones, I predict that in a year or two, they’ll have gone the way of the gold Apple Watch Edition.

You know how you’re walking or running and one of your earbuds falls out? You grab the cord, reel it in, and put it back in your ear. And then you go on walking or running. With AirPods, one of them will fall out, and you’ll watch as someone steps on it, or as it falls down a subway grating.

I can also see that, as you get on a bus or subway, someone grabs at one of your AirPods to snatch it, and you’re listening only to one channel of music for the rest of the day.

Hard to argue with the “you’ll lose them too easily” logic here. But lots of people have Bluetooth earpieces and they continue to sell. How many times have you been in a crowd and seen someone walking and talking with a bit of plastic stuck in their ear. In this respect, the AirPods are no different.

The elegance of Apple’s solution to pairing and voice makes these game-changers, in my opinion. From Apple’s press release:

With AirPods, setting up and using wireless headphones has never been easier. Just open the charging case near your iPhone and with a simple tap, AirPods are immediately set up with all the devices signed into your iCloud account, including your iPad and Mac. AirPods are connected and ready to go when you are, just put them in your ears when you want to listen.

If you’ve ever wrestled with pairing a recalcitrant Bluetooth device, the AirPods will be a breath of fresh air. As to losing them, consider your surroundings. If you are going for a run, or will be in a crowded, snatch-and-grab kind of environment, consider using your lightning headphones instead. Roaming around the house or office, out grocery shopping, on an airplane? My guess is, you’ll notice if one of them falls out.

And stay away from subway gratings.