In the metro cities and the airports of India — especially airports — I got real tired of seeing people sport their AirPods. I would think to myself every single time, "Hey, that looks so convenient!"

I could not have been more wrong. I now wish I didn't buy a pair at all.

Generic downsides that will apply to most products.

To name a few downsides:

• They are not made to last. Can you replace the battery on these things? Nope! Even the original manufacturer would refuse it!
• Multi-fold higher cost than its wired counter-part. And that's an under-statement.
• Needing to constantly charge it. One more gadget to charge. Ugh.
• Lossless audio isn't supported over Bluetooth.
• Since they need to pack a lot of tech into the buds, it's heavier.
• A good fit is difficult to find. It takes a lot of trial and error. If you live somewhere where returns aren't a thing (hello India!), this won't even be possible at all. Stuck with what you get the first time around.
• Personally, I'm always afraid of losing it — for example, dropping it in a place where recovering it is impossible. Or somewhere where damage is possible within seconds of the drop such as streets.
• Mic audio isn't good enough and apparently can't be.
• Fear of theft is also high enough on my list. If it's expensive, and easy to carry, it's at risk of theft.

AirPods specific downsides.

For AirPods specifically, there are a few more downsides:

Poor connection guess-game.

Apple devices never know which device I want the AirPods to connect to. Whatever algorithm is in place here, it's crap.

I might be watching something on my iPad and open the AirPods next to it (is that even a thing?), and lo and behold, my iPhone is now connected to the AirPods. Thanks, Apple? I guess?

Inability to hold a connection.

OK, let's assume I've set up the right device with the AirPods. You know what's so, so, so annoying? That this connection drops randomly. I've been on phone calls where I hear a disconnection sound and I think to myself, "Is this what Apple makes for $225?"

Honestly, if this happens now, I don't even bother reconnecting. It's a whole charade. Better to just apologize for the missed sentence and hold a brick of a phone up (iPhone 13 Pro is heavy) next to my ear.

Doesn't wake up properly.

Sometimes I need to pop it back into the case and then re-connect because only earpiece connected the first time for some weird reason.

I'll say this once again:

TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS?

My current routine.

I now prefer my wired EarPods. Fraction of the cost, supports lossless audio, and I can wear it while exercising. It's just better in so many ways.

It's only on occasion I take out the AirPods — maybe I'm watching a movie in my bed, talking to someone in a secure space and don't want my arm to hurt from the bulky iPhone 13 Pro, and a few more scenarios like this.

Hopefully this means they also last much longer by virtue of not being in active use? Fingers crossed.

I encourage you to get in touch over email by using the following convenience link for any discussion: comment via email.

Browsing reddit and came across this post on Ars Technica:

Netflix adds "extra home" fee, will block usage in other homes if you don't pay.

Netflix is the most expensive subscription I have, even when I am splitting it with one other person.

They pull something like this off in India, and that's a no-no for me. Their base plan is 480p streaming and they call this "good" video quality. And it's just 1 screen! It's not like I'd want to downgrade and keep it in some form, looking at those specs.

According to an Accenture report based on a survey, as much as 74% of the Indian subscribers are convinced that the content they are paying for is too expensive. Additionally, 46% of Indian consumers plan to decrease their spending on media and entertainment over the coming year. Interestingly, with the highest subscription cost among Indian OTTs, Netflix is likely to face the brunt of decreased SVOD users.

https://inc42.com/features/why-netflix-is-failing-in-india-much-more-than-just-a-pricing-strategy/

Amazon is ₹1499/year, Disney+ Hotstar ₹1499/year, and several other platforms ranging from ₹199/year to ₹499/year. Netflix makes that much anywhere in 2 weeks to 3 months.

I'm all about supporting the little guy, but is Netflix that anymore? This constant growth-at-any-cost BS has got to stop. Everyone is tired of subscriptions, but on principle alone, I wouldn't want to indicate to companies that they can abuse the subscription process this much too.

I encourage you to get in touch over email by using the following convenience link for any discussion: comment via email.

I joined Mastodon, a part of the wider fediverse tooling, back in 2019. I didn’t realize there’s Pixelfed, Write.as, Plume, and so much more. It just seemed like an interesting place to be as I was putting a huge burnout episode behind me and looking to start things. As I approach 3 years on the fediverse, I am looking back. ... Continue reading →

Fangirling a couple of a movies by Makoto Shinkai.

A look back at June 2022 and a check-in of sorts.