AirPods are for podcasts

…and that’s about it

A couple of months ago I wrote about how I was kind of wrong about the AirPods, mostly regarding fit and overall convenience. As long as they fit you well they’re awesome, transformative even.

But, we all know they play music for shit, just like every pair of headphones Apple has ever made. Well, most of us. Anyway, they aren’t so great for music, but it turns out they’re perfect for podcasts. Why? Well, podcasts aren’t music.

What do you call a group of middle-aged white men? A podcast.

— Justin Blanton (@jblanton) July 13, 2015

I don’t mean to sound snarky or dismissive, really. But, podcasts mostly are middle-aged guys talking, often about themselves, and it turns out that that translates really well to AirPods, especially with the EQ set to “spoken word.”

Not surprisingly, the experience works really well for meditation apps too. I’m only just getting my feet wet with this meditation stuff (surprise! — I’m comically bad at it), but have found that I prefer using my AirPods whenever I try.

I still haven’t found much utility in using Siri via the AirPods, but that’s more to do with the fact that I find little utility in Siri to begin with, and less to do with overall execution.

Finally, the new changes in iOS 11 are super convenient, namely double-tapping one earpiece to skip tracks (or some other command) and double-tapping the other to pause. Both are welcome additions and should have been included from jump.

The AirPods — including the tiny charging case — have quickly become just another part of my everyday carry, just like my wallet and pocket computer, and actually are in my ears more than not these days.