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The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

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Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#71

Post by jdmichal »

pjmlp wrote: post #27
amazingman wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if they do, they'll end up in antitrust courts in multiple countries while paying out a crushingly large and sustained PR cost.

Usually such cases only apply to monopolies and Apple is very far from being one, considering the world market.

Antitrust law is not just about monopolies, and it does not only apply to monopolies. Also, the world market wouldn't matter, because any individual case would be brought in a specific legal jurisdiction, where only that specific jurisdiction's market would be relevant.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#72

Post by mxfh »

sigmar wrote: post #53
mead5432 wrote: post #20

I understand the argument that forcing content through a proprietary jack opens the door for controlling said content and has huge implications for hardware manufacturers and the way people use their stuff. What I am having a hard time understanding is why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? It isn't like apps running in iOS had to interact with APIs to do all the other thi…

>why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? Their issue seems to be that it is not analog. The lightening port and bluetooth connection are two-way data connections, and the phone will be able to identify what is attached (rather than just outputing an analog signal). Here's the quotes that make that clear- > But intentionally or not, by removing the analog port, Apple is givi…

So exclusive releases for specific hardware IDs are feasible.

A not so far fetched Scenario extending on the exclusive iTunes release practice:

Popular new Artist - New Album: Listen before everyone else exclusively on beats

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#74

Post by electic »

new299 wrote: post #60
electic wrote: post #41

The real issue here is this might be anti-competitive, and go as far as being an anti-trust issue. Apple can now limit who makes headphones for the iPhone and the ones that are "allowed" could end up seeing their headphones far more expensive than the Apple and Beats brands. This is all because 3rd party brands will have to pay licensing fees to Apple to use the port. So we could end up seeing headphones that are 20%…

Or you could use standard bluetooth headphones?

Again, the quality is low on those and pairing is an issue. As said, they could have worked with the industry on that however they went with their own proprietary chip and protocol.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#75

Post by digi_owl »

sigmar wrote: post #53
mead5432 wrote: post #20

I understand the argument that forcing content through a proprietary jack opens the door for controlling said content and has huge implications for hardware manufacturers and the way people use their stuff. What I am having a hard time understanding is why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? It isn't like apps running in iOS had to interact with APIs to do all the other thi…

>why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? Their issue seems to be that it is not analog. The lightening port and bluetooth connection are two-way data connections, and the phone will be able to identify what is attached (rather than just outputing an analog signal). Here's the quotes that make that clear- > But intentionally or not, by removing the analog port, Apple is givi…

Bingo. We already see this with HDMI and HDCP where you can get a diminished experience, or none at all, because the playback device and the TV can't get their ducks in a row.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#76

Post by jrowley »

sigmar wrote: post #53
mead5432 wrote: post #20

I understand the argument that forcing content through a proprietary jack opens the door for controlling said content and has huge implications for hardware manufacturers and the way people use their stuff. What I am having a hard time understanding is why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? It isn't like apps running in iOS had to interact with APIs to do all the other thi…

>why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? Their issue seems to be that it is not analog. The lightening port and bluetooth connection are two-way data connections, and the phone will be able to identify what is attached (rather than just outputing an analog signal). Here's the quotes that make that clear- > But intentionally or not, by removing the analog port, Apple is givi…

Yeah, I'm imagining some scenario where say Spotify partners with Bose, and if you plug in Bose headphones then you get higher quality audio than you can get elsewhere. Or say tidal (Jay Z's streaming service) says you can only listen to some songs via Kanye's new headphones.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#77

Post by 0x0 »

dazmax wrote: post #68
sigmar wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? Their issue seems to be that it is not analog. The lightening port and bluetooth connection are two-way data connections, and the phone will be able to identify what is attached (rather than just outputing an analog signal). Here's the quotes that make that clear- > But intentionally or not, by removing the analog port, Apple is givi…

But if a manufacturer wanted to only play audio to their device, they could have already made it a lightning-connected device. If they do give the ability to distinguish the lightning-to-3.5mm adapter from other lightning headphones, that isn't any greater than the ability to distinguish between the 3.5mm jack and the lightning port is it?

It's all about defaults and out-of-the-box experience.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#79

Post by Thrillington »

dazmax wrote: post #68
sigmar wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? Their issue seems to be that it is not analog. The lightening port and bluetooth connection are two-way data connections, and the phone will be able to identify what is attached (rather than just outputing an analog signal). Here's the quotes that make that clear- > But intentionally or not, by removing the analog port, Apple is givi…

But if a manufacturer wanted to only play audio to their device, they could have already made it a lightning-connected device. If they do give the ability to distinguish the lightning-to-3.5mm adapter from other lightning headphones, that isn't any greater than the ability to distinguish between the 3.5mm jack and the lightning port is it?

The issue not likely to arise with hardware manufacturers. However, content license holders have been eager to have powers to restrict playback based on the device that will be playing back, see region encoded disks and HDMI.

Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

#80

Post by wfo »

mead5432 wrote: post #20

I understand the argument that forcing content through a proprietary jack opens the door for controlling said content and has huge implications for hardware manufacturers and the way people use their stuff. What I am having a hard time understanding is why is that any different than the OS influencing what gets sent to the 3.5mm jack? It isn't like apps running in iOS had to interact with APIs to do all the other thi…

Apple has been very good at predicting (or perhaps directly causing) the demise of certain technologies: the disk drive, the CD drive, the ethernet port. They removed them much to the chagrin of many a loyal customer, and a few years later they nearly ceased to exist across the entire industry (we're still waiting on the ethernet port to go away but give it time).

How many times will it take you forgetting your dongle to just pony up and buy the apple approved headphones? How long will it take you using the non-default, non-apple, non-sleek, clunky dongle as you show off your fancy new iPhone 7 to your friends before you decide it's got to go? What if they're using it the apple-intended way?

How long will it take before nobody buys headphones anymore? A few generations until they deprecate the dongle since nobody is using it? Where you can no longer buy a $10 set of headphones at a drugstore and plug them in? Where 'every audio device must provide analog audio output in a universal format that every device has been able to read since audio was invented or it is functionally useless' is no longer a maxim?

Long-term, we are giving up a universal and open protocol that all devices work with for a proprietary one. If you don't expect companies to abuse this to make money and to stop you from doing what you want with your equipment, well, I've got a bridge to sell you.

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