These Buds For You

Not until the spring, of course. It’s interesting to see hearables continue to thrive. Back at IFA 2016, I remember seeing the Xperia Assistant from Sony and how that was far ahead of its time. Three years later and every major hardware maker has a bud. There are Galaxy Buds, AirPods, and Echo Buds, and now again, Pixel Buds.

Buds were all the rage three years back at the Hong Kong electronics shows and it’s not a surprise that we’re seeing a huge reduction in the cost to make these and the new technology that has come out of so many iterations. Buds have the ability to blend in and people are likely to leave them in if they’re left to their devices.

I’m hoping the net batch of buds will be more health orientated, taking vital data and recording it for later analysis. Talking to an assistant via a bud doesn’t sound like the largest opportunity.