Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/18/these-truly-wireless-earbuds-r.html
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Actually, just under $2 million raised. 14,000 backers. No great reviews. Hard pass.
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Or fall into the drink you dropped them into?
Umm … no, on second thoughts, it is not my job to correct moronic marketing blurb.
(But did they fall or were they dropped? We deserve to know.)
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I was interested in Bragi’s product a while ago, but finally bought over-the-ears with ANC.
I sometimes look back, especially when considering that I would have liked to swim using the earbuds. (Win-win: no water in the ear canal plus nice music.)
But as with most new products, the concept was nice, but the problems reported were plenty.
These are just rebranded $20 chinese earphones. I would say it is a scam. - https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Low-consumption-TWS-Earphones-magnetic-control_62168623668.html?spm=a2700.icbuShop.20990.1.7e44392a6Z54hv
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I looked for this but couldn’t find it - nice work. So much of IndieGoGo and Kickstarter are people who just found something on Alibaba and slapped a brand on it. All it takes to get 14,000 suckers to part with their money is a slick video and a good “founder’s story.”
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I struggled with that sentence too
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And BoingBoing has option “Add 2 Year Warranty - $24.99” in their shop. Warranty is more than original earphones 
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I see that they solve the anxiety of losing them, by adding loops you can loop a tether through to go around your neck.
Ahh, the peace of mind that tethered wireless earbuds brings me.
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Nice. Raised $2M, “sold” at $250 a pair, and marked down to $99 for a YUGE savings. Capitalism!
Hah! Even better! Or is it the other way around? Which came first? Even if the ones you linked to came first – and I wouldn’t be surprised – to get that $20 price you would have to buy 5,000 pairs and pay $40,760.20 to have them shipped to the US (or one sample for $30, plus lower shipping).
Not saying it’s not a scam, but these are clearly not the same molds, not the same carrying case.
Edit: That’s what I get for not scrolling down. Yeah, that doesn’t look good.
You know what’s better than tethered wireless earbuds? Wired wireless earbuds. Could work.
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So I scrolled past this video and – particularly because of the beach motif – thought someone had come up with the ingenious idea of Fyre Festival branded earbuds. I cannot deny the notion made me pause.
yeah, the powerbeats pro are the best wireless headphones i’ve ever used. these things look like they’re butt-heavy and will fall out of your years with any sort of jostling.
That is actually a good question about something that is a real issue:
Maurice comes up with an idea, gets talks to a manufacturer to get an idea of how much it’ll cost to get them made. Manufacturer quotes a price based on Maurice’s specs. Maurice launches Kickstarter, meantime, someone scoops up the specs. By the time Maurice gets enough money to start manufacturing, someone else is already up and running, and since the middlemen have been cut out, and maybe whoever is doing it is cutting a few corners and not insisting on fair labour, the cost is way, way cheaper, especially since they’re not trying to position themselves as a luxury brand. And Maurice ends up selling his stuff cut-rate on random websites, just to not be stuck with a storage unit full of now mostly worthless stock.
Industrial espionage > State espionage, any six days of the week. And not everyone is like PepsiCo, simply handing the secret recipe back to Coke and helping prosecute the thief.
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