Object that I HATE

Headphone Jack-Less iPhone

Besides being a texting device or personal computer, my phone is most importantly a music player. Listening to music in the car helps get me energized in the morning and de-stressed in the evening. It helps keep me awake during long road trips or when I’m driving late at night. But when I upgraded my iPhone, a new constraint restricted my possibilities for playing music.

The iPhone no longer sports a headphone jack, effectively severing my ability to both play music and charge my phone at the same time in the car (my car doesn’t have a USB plug, so I need both an aux cord and a lightning port).

In order to do both, I had to buy a $50 adapter in addition to using Apple’s headphone jack adapter. This results in frequent breakdowns whenever I drive over bumps. I will lose audio connection and have to unplug the adapter (while driving) and plug it back in.

Unfortunately, there is neither feedback nor visibility on the interface as to whether or not plugging the adapter back in successfully reconnected the audio. The music doesn’t automatically start replaying, and nothing on the screen indicates a connection, so I have to manually press play and hope that music comes through the speakers. If it doesn’t, sometimes I have to unplug the adapter multiple times (again, while driving) before it finally reconnects.

There’s also no feedback or visibility of the system status regarding what’s causing the breakdowns. Sometimes the audio will disconnect from the tiniest bump, while other times it will be just fine going over huge ones.

What’s most frustrating is that the removal of the headphone jack wasn’t in response to some major design flaw. It was just a shameless ploy by Apple to force us all to buy their new #$@&%*! Airpods.

Object that I LOVE

Apple Airpods

Unfortunately, I love their #$@&%*! Airpods. There is immediate habituation: once they’re in my ears, I totally forget they’re there—they fit perfectly, they don’t become loose or jostle around, and they don’t get in the way of my movements when I’m performing other tasks.

There is a visible indication of the system status (a green light in the carrying case indicates a full charge, whereas an orange light indicates that a charge is needed) and there is feedback to my actions (they make a noise or automatically start playing music when I put them in my ears, and they pause the music when I take them out).

The Airpods have very clear affordances (they’re the same shape as the previous Apple earbuds) and very clear constraints (each Airpod only fits in its corresponding charging slot).

The mapping between the controls and their effects is also very simple and straightforward. There is only one charging port on the carrying case and only one button (which is used to pair the Airpods with a Bluetooth device).

Overall, the Airpods are extremely intuitive, easy-to-use, and make my life a lot more convenient. I love them.