--- title: The “mocked, then loved” AirPods effect | daily.dev description: When AirPods launched in 2016, they were widely mocked before becoming ubiquitous. The Apple Watch followed a similar arc. Now Apple is reportedly planning... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-mocked-then-loved-airpods-effect-lnt4ww44e twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The “mocked, then loved” AirPods effect | daily.dev og:description: When AirPods launched in 2016, they were widely mocked before becoming ubiquitous. The Apple Watch followed a similar arc. Now Apple is reportedly planning... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-mocked-then-loved-airpods-effect-lnt4ww44e og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/lnt4WW44E.png og:image:alt: The “mocked, then loved” AirPods effect og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The “mocked, then loved” AirPods effect **[Medium](https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary When AirPods launched in 2016, they were widely mocked before becoming ubiquitous. The Apple Watch followed a similar arc. Now Apple is reportedly planning camera-equipped AirPods for late 2027, designed to give Siri visual context about the wearer's surroundings. The initial reaction is again skeptical, but this time the pushback goes beyond aesthetics — it raises ethical and privacy concerns about recording bystanders without their knowledge. The piece examines what made AirPods and the Apple Watch succeed despite early ridicule, why some Apple products (Magic Mouse, Vision Pro) never escaped the mockery phase, and why camera AirPods face a harder challenge: winning over not just wearers, but everyone around them. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why did people mock AirPods when they first launched in 2016? Critics focused on appearance and practicality rather than functionality. The Guardian compared them to a tampon without a string and predicted they would vanish, while Popular Mechanics called them a step backward and awful design. People online likened them to toothbrush heads. The skepticism was rooted in unfamiliarity with the wireless, wire-free form factor rather than any ethical concern. _daily.dev surfaces stories like this for developers tracking how consumer hardware narratives shift over time._ ### What are the rumored camera-equipped AirPods supposed to do? Reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman for a possible late 2027 release, they would include small, low-resolution cameras in slightly longer stems, acting as visual eyes for Siri rather than conventional photo or video cameras. Use cases include identifying counter ingredients for meal suggestions, pointing to landmarks instead of giving turn directions, and adding poster details straight to a calendar, all hands-free. _developers building voice and vision assistants can follow how Apple frames ambient camera use cases on daily.dev._ ### How many people said they don't want cameras in AirPods according to the SoundGuys survey? 88% of more than 1,700 respondents in a SoundGuys reader poll said they did not want cameras added to AirPods, reflecting strong privacy concerns. Critics also noted that Apple's proposed LED indicator, meant to show when visual data is being captured or uploaded, might not be visible enough to bystanders near the wearer's ear to actually inform them. _anyone evaluating wearable privacy tradeoffs can track consumer sentiment shifts like this via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Apple is reportedly cooking up a trio of AI wearables](https://daily.dev/posts/apple-is-reportedly-cooking-up-a-trio-of-ai-wearables-tkfs7guw8) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Apple testing four frame designs for AI smart glasses ahead of 2027 launch](https://daily.dev/posts/apple-testing-four-frame-designs-for-ai-smart-glasses-ahead-of-2027-launch-xcbmdzf60) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Not to be outdone by OpenAI, Apple is reportedly developing an AI wearable](https://daily.dev/posts/not-to-be-outdone-by-openai-apple-is-reportedly-developing-an-ai-wearable-fgglwe8qn) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#apple](https://daily.dev/tags/apple), [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy), [#ux](https://daily.dev/tags/ux) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-mocked-then-loved-airpods-effect-lnt4ww44e) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The “mocked, then loved” AirPods effect","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-mocked-then-loved-airpods-effect-lnt4ww44e","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-mocked-then-loved-airpods-effect-lnt4ww44e"},"datePublished":"2026-07-21T07:30:07.292Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:51:21.195Z","description":"When AirPods launched in 2016, they were widely mocked before becoming ubiquitous. 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The Guardian compared them to a tampon without a string and predicted they would vanish, while Popular Mechanics called them a step backward and awful design. People online likened them to toothbrush heads. The skepticism was rooted in unfamiliarity with the wireless, wire-free form factor rather than any ethical concern. daily.dev surfaces stories like this for developers tracking how consumer hardware narratives shift over time."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What are the rumored camera-equipped AirPods supposed to do?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman for a possible late 2027 release, they would include small, low-resolution cameras in slightly longer stems, acting as visual eyes for Siri rather than conventional photo or video cameras. Use cases include identifying counter ingredients for meal suggestions, pointing to landmarks instead of giving turn directions, and adding poster details straight to a calendar, all hands-free. developers building voice and vision assistants can follow how Apple frames ambient camera use cases on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How many people said they don't want cameras in AirPods according to the SoundGuys survey?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"88% of more than 1,700 respondents in a SoundGuys reader poll said they did not want cameras added to AirPods, reflecting strong privacy concerns. Critics also noted that Apple's proposed LED indicator, meant to show when visual data is being captured or uploaded, might not be visible enough to bystanders near the wearer's ear to actually inform them. anyone evaluating wearable privacy tradeoffs can track consumer sentiment shifts like this via daily.dev."}}]} ```