Most Silicon Valley pundits that we enjoy listening to or reading only reinforce our own over-developed, over-informed (and thus, unrepresentative) viewpoints. They say things that validate our shallow egos and make us feel less alone, like when they decry the death of the 3.5 mm analog jack as anathema. We tweet our adolescent angst in solidarity because it feels good to belong and to rage in unison, and because we recoil from physical affection from each other, we seek likes and retweets to soothe our wounded inner children because that kind of validation is the closest human connection to getting a hug that we’re willing to tolerate. And fuck yeah, Techmeme, thank you for showing me that I’m not alone!
Yes, others, from Slate to Chris Saad (1), have pointed out that this change is not about music, but about how Apple’s new AirPods will usher in the wonderful (and yet unproven) world of voice computing
Apple learned to take their time with products, and to pace their product evolution. They seem slow at times, but maybe it’s just because they resist the short-sighted approach that most tech companies feel forced to take to try to get ahead. That means most tech companies struggle to fully understand the problems they’re solving, and don’t stop to saddle up alongside their users to develop empathy—to really understand what their users are willing to put up with and what they never will.
