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Apple's AirPods Pro hearing health features

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282 points elsewhen | 6 comments | 22 Oct 24 00:25 UTC | HN request time: 1.32s | source | bottom
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Almondsetat ◴[22 Oct 24 05:51 UTC] No.41911548[source]▶
You can say a lot of things about Apple, but which other consumer-facing tech company adds features meant to accompany people throughout every phase of their lives? People are growing with their smartphones, and the need for some functionalities only starts to become obvious later in life.
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lnsru ◴[22 Oct 24 06:14 UTC] No.41911658[source]▶
It’s just marketing. A plus point in differentiation matrix from gazillion competitors. And a justification for a higher price tag. The products are nice though.
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1. bobnamob ◴[22 Oct 24 09:06 UTC] No.41912503[source]▶
If all marketing had actual consumer benefit we'd be much better off.

I can understand the cynicism, but I think Apple's investment into accessibility and health (I'm talking heart attack detection, not gamified activity tracking fwiw) as a differentiator is one of these rare win-win situations.

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2. stavros ◴[22 Oct 24 09:57 UTC] No.41912766[source]▶
How is are win-wins rare? They're literally what capitalism is based on.
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3. bobnamob ◴[22 Oct 24 10:05 UTC] No.41912803[source]▶
Yeah fair shout. I guess my perception of their frequency’s been beaten down by HN cynicism over the years
4. tgv ◴[22 Oct 24 12:07 UTC] No.41913448[source]▶
That's a very Friedman-esque take. Capitalism is nothing more than private ownership of means and capital (usually in a market largely free of government control). The recent inflation outbreak is a clear example where capitalism is not a win-win. Banks, hedge-funds, private equity are other good examples.
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5. stavros ◴[23 Oct 24 22:42 UTC] No.41929954{3}[source]▶
I don't mean that capitalism only produces wins, I mean that companies are incentivised to produce things that consumers will want (the "win-win" the GP mentioned).
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6. tgv ◴[24 Oct 24 15:39 UTC] No.41936626{4}[source]▶
That comment mentions "consumer benefit", which is something else that desire, sometimes entirely. It's the origin of the perversion of the free market.

In the classical view, consumer desire is called "demand", and demand creates the incentive. But that's also not the definition of capitalism, and it's also valid for non-capitalist systems.