The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM

Post by rayiner » Thu, Sep 08, 2016, 5:34 PM UTC

spikengineer wrote: post #187

rayiner wrote: post #165

HeadphoneJackGate is really a damning indictment of the tech industry. The usability of Apple products for ordinary people has been sliding downhill for years due to trendy-but-idiotic features like hidden UI, flat UI, and gestures (and various abominations combining the three). But the lack of a headphone jack (a total non-issue thanks to the included adapter) is what the tech press gets worked up over...

The next iphone in 2017 or 2018 probably won't have the adapter. All headphone manufacturers should go and ask for lightning certification. The adapter is just a temporary measure to soothe customers. It won't be supported forever. If apple honestly wanted digital audio they would have used the universal USB-C standard for the future. Apple wants customer lock-in to their platform and using lightning will prevent cus…

Post by bsder » Thu, Sep 08, 2016, 5:38 PM UTC

wfo wrote: post #80

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 dongl…

Post by sigmar » Thu, Sep 08, 2016, 5:45 PM UTC

dogma1138 wrote: post #210

sigmar wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a source saying that the analog over lightning is being used here? Because the slide I posted in my other reply says it is "digital audio" over lightning, which I assume to be true for both lightning earpods and this adapter (though I very well could be wrong).

The size of it plus the spec has lanes for analog audio. Wait for a tear down but it isn't a DAC.

Post by devy » Thu, Sep 08, 2016, 5:46 PM UTC

mediocrejoker wrote: post #194

mixedCase wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hello 2007. https://i.imgur.com/NqxYlb0.jpg

What is this a photo of? Looks like some sort of barrel jack to AC mains adapter?

Post by stock_toaster » Thu, Sep 08, 2016, 5:50 PM UTC

jowiar wrote: post #61

electic wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a hassle. If you are making headphones now in 2016 and beyond, you are going to have to deal with the lightening port to be competitive in the iPhone accessory market.

This wasn't a push to use the lightning port -- it was a push for accessory makers to ask "First, can we make this wireless?". Lightning isn't really long for this world, either -- (not sure if it goes in 2 or 4 years, but I'd bet pretty heavily against it surviving for 6). The next iteration of the watch is probably self-sufficient, no phone needed, and will require BT accessories.