[StanD]

  Think what you might... both Apple and Beats paid meticulous attention to the whole user experience, not just the technology inside the cases of their products.
 
Apple, of course, with:
 

1. Clean design with minimum buttons and tremendous ease of use;
2. An entire work environment (iTunes and the Apple App Store) with automatic synchronization across multiple Apple devices;
3. Innovative human/machine interfaces, such as Siri speech recognition, and the first wide-spread use of ultra-high-definition displays (the Retina) while increasing portability by decreasing weight and thickness.

 
And Beats, with:
 

1. Headphones that are both attractive and simple to use, assuring that their plugs will fit into Apple products even through iPhone cases and the like (try to fit a Sennheiser 1/8" plug into the little hole on an iPhone case to see what I mean);
2. Headphones that are light weight enough to stay put and comfortable to wear;
3. Headphones that accommodate the whole portable music scene, with attractive boxing, carrying cases, and multiple plugs.

 
Neither Apple nor Beats are generally where leading edge technology will first appear.  But both pay far more attention to improving the entire usage experience, not just the data sheet specs, of their products.
 
I have 6 Beats systems (Beats Pro HP, Beats Studio 2013, Beats Studio Wireless 2013, HeartBeats IEMs, Beats Music, and Beats Automotive stereo), and 8 Apple systems (iPad Air, iPad original, iPod Classic, iPod Touch 5th gen, iPod Touch 4th Gen, iPhone 4, and iPhone 5, and iPod nano).

Not everyone would consider the SQ nor the Price/Performance of Beats to be a good user experience.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Not everyone would consider the SQ nor the Price/Performance of Beats to be a good user experience.

Agreed. Likewise for Apple.

 

[StanD]

  Not everyone would consider the SQ nor the Price/Performance of Beats to be a good user experience.

 
 

Agreed. Likewise for Apple.

I will say other than possible issues with storage space the latest iPod Touch 5G is rather good but getting a bit pricey once you opt for more SSD. The DAC and Amp are excellent, although if you need gobs of power the internal Amp isn't going to deliver. That said, it does a rather good job with HD600's. And using the CCK it's easy to hook up to an external DAC, etc.

 

[eugenius]

Come on!
 
Somebody in the Apple marketing dept. thought: what's the other company that succeeded at gouging their customers better than we do? 'cause we have 100 B$ in the bank - better we buy them today or we'll compete against them tomorrow ...
 
We also get the fools who bought into both brands, those are the extra juicy fools.
 
Smoosh! Smoosh!

 

[Makiah S]

  Come on!
 
Somebody in the Apple marketing dept. thought: who's the other company that has succeeded in gouging their customers better than we do? 'cause we have 100 B$ in the bank - better we buy them today or we'll compete against them tomorrow ...
 
We also get the fools that bought into both brands, those are the extra juicy fools.
 
Smoosh! Smoosh!

... it's a little crude but yea... this pretty much sums it up. In both cases Apple and Beats offer very "plug n Play" products, products that are very simple to use, while I feel Apples price is more justified than Beats... in both cases consumers purchase the brands for reasons outside of JUST  performance

 

[eugenius]

Yeah! Can you imagine a BeatsiPhone? It'll be like the HTC One all over again.

 

[StanD]

When this goes belly up, I think the shareholders will be more than just annoyed. They might have preferred getting a nice dividend rather than flushing $3B down the toilet.

 

[Hapster]

Yeah! Can you imagine a BeatsiPhone? It'll be like the HTC One all over again.

Good thing we all have dacs then. Simply just bypass it

 

[daerron]

Well Apple could have bought Whatsapp for $19 billion.... They were under pressure for sitting on a big pile of cash and not looking particularly innovative. In the context of that at least this make some sense on a certain level, though if it was my money I would rather have purchased Sennheiser and have them churn out fashionable headphones. Goes to show that this is more about the Beats service and getting some creative thinking and industry know how on board.

 

[Hapster]

Well Apple could have bought Whatsapp for $19 billion.... They were under pressure for sitting on a big pile of cash and not looking particularly innovative. In the context of that at least this make some sense on a certain level, though if it was my money I would rather have purchased Sennheiser and have them churn out fashionable headphones. Goes to show that this is more about the Beats service and getting some creative thinking and industry know how on board.

Not at all, sennheiser has such low brand recognitiom compared to beats, especially to the audience of apple.

You tell your friend you bought a pair of beats, they'll say "sweet dude"

Tell them you bought a pair of sennheisers "what the hell is that? Just buy beats dude, they're really loud."

 

[Makiah S]

Not at all, sennheiser has such low brand recognitiom compared to beats, especially to the audience of apple.

You tell your friend you bought a pair of beats, they'll say "sweet dude"

Tell them you bought a pair of sennheisers "what the hell is that? Just buy beats dude, they're really loud."

ding ding ding! 

 

[Currawong]

  When this goes belly up, I think the shareholders will be more than just annoyed. They might have preferred getting a nice dividend rather than flushing $3B down the toilet.

 
Beats earns $1.3B a year. Apple don't have to do anything to get a return on their investment.

 

[thievesarmy]

  Well Apple could have bought Whatsapp for $19 billion.... They were under pressure for sitting on a big pile of cash and not looking particularly innovative. In the context of that at least this make some sense on a certain level, though if it was my money I would rather have purchased Sennheiser and have them churn out fashionable headphones. Goes to show that this is more about the Beats service and getting some creative thinking and industry know how on board.

 
So Apple buys Sennheiser, one of the most respected brands in audio, and turns them into a Beats wannabe? Churning out "fashionable headphones"? HELL NO. Thank god they didn't do that. At least with this deal, they may actually improve Beats or change their brand, but even if they just let them stay exactly what they are, it will just be Apple having a stake in them, not changing what was previously a well respected innovative company and making them into a trendwhore also-ran. 

 

[thievesarmy]

   
Beats earns $1.3B a year. Apple don't have to do anything to get a return on their investment.

 
Not to mention the INSANE cash position that Apple has (and has had for quite some time). 
 
http://www.businessinsider.com/global-cash-reserves-companies-nations-2014-4
 
#1 with 159 BIL. This deal will barely make a dent, and will pay for itself in short order. 

 

[Makiah S]

   
So Apple buys Sennheiser, one of the most respected brands in audio, and turns them into a Beats wannabe? Churning out "fashionable headphones"? HELL NO. Thank god they didn't do that. At least with this deal, they may actually improve Beats or change their brand, but even if they just let them stay exactly what they are, it will just be Apple having a stake in them, not changing what was previously a well respected innovative company and making them into a trendwhore also-ran. 

Apple could not afford to Buy Sennheiser nor would Sennheiser benifit from a sale, Beats run my... what two Hip Hop Producers? It much better in Appls hands, and the two guys who what owned it, Dre and that other fellow get tons of money. I doubt either of those two have a passion for the technology behind their headphones, yes the two may LOVE music, but not in the way the engineers of Sennhieser do, Beats isn't a headphone you buy for the sound... maybe in a few years it will b but it's more of a nice sound social statement [and a cash cow]