The problem as I see it, as a heavy Discord user as well as a mod and admin for some moderately large communities, isn't that Discord isn't searchable - it's just the people are generally too lazy to do so. Often (and by often, I mean _daily_) I see people join a server, skip past the FAQ channel, and ask the same question the person above them asked. Said user would have had their answer had they:
- read the FAQ
- used the search
- scrolled up just a little bit
I don't disagree that the walled garden of Discord could use search improvements, but the users themselves bear much of the responsibility for the perceived distaste of the tool and I have yet to see a solution that isn't perceived as "mean" when people are directed, even gently, to try the aforementioned methods for seeking an answer.
Well, I don't consider it a _bad_ experience; I understand that my usage has contributed significantly to the problem. If Apple were to give me the runaround here, my story would likely be very different. I may have abundant patience but it is finite.
I wouldn't dare prescribe my regimen for how I deal with things beyond my control, but for interested parties I would say daily meditation and exercise have helped me turn down the volume on such things.
- On the first instance I contacted apple via their customer support chat. It took about 30 minutes to get replacements shipped to me.
- On the second instance, the problem was well-established, so they just shipped me new ones.
- On the third instance, they asked me to go in to a local Apple Store, and that did take a bit longer.
In fact, I'm due for round 4 here soon. There's no stopping the dusty environment.
I'm pretty demanding of headphones - 2 pairs of jaybirds died horribly under the same circumstances and the company would only replace the first set. A cheap set of Aukey buds fared considerably better and they still have life left in them.
The tight integration of the airpods with my other apple devices and the perks, plus the overall sound quality and excellent noise cancellation around loud equipment more than make up for the hassle of a free replacement rigamarole every year. I've been pleased with them since I received them as a gift in December of 2019, and I'm absolutely not upset in the slightest that there have been problems. Fortune has smiled upon me with regard to my experiences with Apple products.
I've had this exact problem and I've had to replace one or both airpods not once, not twice, but thrice. But, to Apple's credit, they have handled it gracefully each time. The first time it did take a bit of convincing as there weren't many documented cases on the subject. Now, it's rote.
The root cause, as I understand it, is that the microphones that act for transparency mode or for noise-cancelling mode can be blocked by particulate matter. A quick test to see if this has happened is to disable both transparency and noise cancellation to see if the audio artifacts disappear - it is not always enough to inspect them under a microscope; this has been the case for me each time but I confess my environment is extremely dusty at times and I wear these airpods for extended periods in all manner of adverse conditions and they have always performed admirably.
Having worked both sides of this (for companies mentioned in the article, even) I would label this "How to Play nice in the Email Space." Techniques for avoiding spam filters are much more nefarious.