ICYMI: Apple, Again, Creates a Market Out of Nothing. And It’s Massive
Dear Subscriber, hope you had a good new year’s break and are warm/dry/inferno-free, depending on where you happen to be. This week I wrote about AirPods and its growing market. It’s obvious, I guess, but new data shows just how much Apple have created something out of nothing. I suppose the surprise is how long it took, but that’s probably more to do with the tech than anything. I’ve also included links to a couple of recent pieces you might have missed: The Future of Work and a look at A Battery-less Future. All pieces are found below.
As ever, thoughts, comments, ideas and brickbats welcome. Doesn’t have to be about the topic in hand, or even tech-related. Oh, and unsub details at the bottom (you're on this infrequent list because we've talked in the past, we're friends or both, but I won't be offended if it's one email newsletter too much. We’ve all been there.)
Jeremy
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Apple, Again, Creates a Market Out of Nothing. And It’s Massive
Having recently (finally) bought a pair of big chunky Bluetooth headphones, thinking they were so commonplace I wouldn’t get any weird looks, I now realise that once again I’m at the wrong end of a trend curve. People are staring at me — and not for my rugged visage. I’m the oddity: everyone else is sporting wireless earphones, the Apple AirPods variety (although I suspect quite a few of them are the cheap knockoffs which are indistinguishable in look and a tenth the price.)
Reality bites: what once looked a bit weird — massive headphones — looks weird again, and what looked even weirder — wireless earphones with little sticks dangling out of them — looks cool, and increasingly normal.
The data is surprising. Canalys reports that what it calls “smart personal audio devices”– lumping together all the various wireless or semi-wireless buds, earphones and headphones — are this year set for strongest year in history, with real wireless earphones (true wireless stereo, or TWS) “the largest and fastest growing category.”
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The Future of Work Rethought
I recently did two things I hadn’t done before. One was to cancel my membership at a co-working space. The other was to meet, face to face, my virtual assistant of seven years. I belatedly realised the two events were connected: the freelance world, once a parallel universe hidden from view, is fast switching places with the real one, and governments, companies and families should take note.
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A Battery-less Future?
At what point can we ditch batteries, the last encumbrance to our wireless nirvana?
The biggest single block on a wireless, connected future where everything everywhere is attached to chips and sensors which relay, receive and act on instructions from afar is power. And that means either that the device is connected to the electricity grid (which probably means you don’t need it to be wirelessly connected) or it has a battery in it. Which will need charging or replacing.
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