That's a rather narrow view of things, one that I'm surprised to see on HN.

Automatically that view is disqualified because we are talking about Bluetooth headphones; there must be software on them to communicate efficiently with paired devices.

AirPods receive firmware updates to make adjustments to the audio, and AirPods Pro receive further updates to make adjustments to balance audio quality and the way the noise cancellation works in order to make sure that the AirPods fit properly in peoples' ears.

I don't know that (A) connectivity, (B) audio quality, and (C) fitting in peoples' ears are contrived in any way.