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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

#321

Post by sneak »

Tarrosion wrote: post #91
digi_owl wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Amazon will serve me HD video on my smart TV using its Amazon app, but not on my computer using the same TV as a second monitor. And lest you think the problem is the computer, I can get it on my PC just fine using a regular computer monitor...it's a bummer to think about this sort of thing with simple audio as well.

Stop buying crippled content and download your shows without encumberances.

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

#322

Post by jshevek »

topranks wrote: post #312
astrodust wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Define "suits them" then. Microsoft locks down everything, even the computer itself with Secure Boot. Apple does no such thing. If you want to run OS X/macOS on your own hardware it's doable. The only trick is finding drivers, not cracking DRM or license protection. If you want to run another OS on your Mac you might need to fiddle with the EFI settings and/or update that with an EFI mod tool to make it more compatib…

That's not true when it comes to iOS though... can't run unsigned OS.

Yes, the parent post is oddly off topic. Continued invocation of the unrelated windows platform (despite an explicit reminder that this is a Tu quoque fallacy), as well as a strange focus on OS X, as if iOS doesn't even exist.

Obviously apple will gladly lock down, control, restrict, and regulate their users (and even their devs) when it serves their purpose. Just look at iOS. The entire platform is restricted from top to bottom.

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

#323

Post by scarface74 »

mcpherrinm wrote: post #200
jtrip wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did they succeed?

Rumour is, Amazon threatened to stop selling CDs for record companies who wouldn't let them sell DRM-free MP3 files. Certainly they used their massive sales presence to negotiate a deal with the record companies. I think that was the major tipping point for DRM on music. Apple followed after that.

That's not what happened. Around 2006 all of digital music services were failing because thier DRM was incompatible with the iPod. Once Jobs refused to license FairPlay and gave the record industry the alternative of licensing music DRM free they had no choice but to either allow DRM music or let Apple keep a stranglehold on the market.

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

#324

Post by AndrewKemendo »

jrowley wrote: post #206
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually really interesting. Especially as everything is moving toward personalization. If you have a set of headphones that have a unique ID tied to you, the artist could even intro a song with your name - or in the future procedurally generated music could substitute a reference to your city into a song.

Thats a cool idea! Arcade fire did a really cool music video in a similar vein that was interactive/personalized: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Everything under the sun indeed! Thanks for sharing that.

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

#325

Post by poopsintub »

cdnsteve wrote: post #216

The also just made it so their phone no longer works with millions of car audio systems that have an auxiliary input jack. Not all of us have 2016's with fancy Car Play or Android Auto.

Bluetooth has been common if not standard, in even low-end models for the past 3-4 years.

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

#326

Post by brokenmachine »

aidenn0 wrote: post #250
ajross wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are recording stuff from your iPhone using the 3.5mm jack you are already suboptimal perhaps even to the bluetooth. This isn't true at all, unless your hardware is legitimately bad. All but the worst cables and amplifier chains can carry a 20 kHz signal (again, we're talking audio here -- that's basically D/C to modern electronics) at better than the ~45dB signal/noise ratio needed by the ADC on the other si…

I don't know about the iPhone, but many portable devices use a class-D amplifier on the headphone output for battery life, and most class-D amplifiers struggle with high-frequency reproduction.

I have a $50 class-D TA2021 amp connected to my PC and it sounds great, just as good as my home receiver. The class-D amp is only stereo though.

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

#327

Post by brokenmachine »

c22 wrote: post #273
stinkytaco wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Floppy disks, optical disks, ethernet were all replaced by unencumbered standards and they all lead to a superior experience (well, maybe not ethernet, but there are definitly advantages to wireless). If you're old enough to have used a floppy disk drive you do not miss them. Any time you introduce two way communication, you introduce the possibility of DRM, but that does not guarantee it. I can still use my HDMI wit…

I don't miss the slowness, low capacity, or durability of floppy disks but they had features I do miss, like: Physical write protect switches Large space for writing a label Small enough to fit in your pocket but large enough not to get lost from your pocket Cheap enough not to care about Disk could be ejected but still sitting in the drive not sticking out far enough to be a bother

You're really reaching for advantages there...

I'll give you the write protect one, but...

> Small enough to fit in your pocket but large enough not to get lost from your pocket

You can get keyring flash drives, I'd rather that than something larger. Anyway a floppy barely fit in a pocket.

> Cheap enough not to care about

Flash drives are cheap enough not to care about... but my data isnt!

I would definitely give a flash drive to someone if they needed it. They're like $4 each or something. And on a $/Gb comparison they obviously blow away a floppy.

> Disk could be ejected but still sitting in the drive not sticking out far enough to be a bother

You can safely remove a flash drive and leave it plugged in if you like.

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

#328

Post by mcpherrinm »

tzs wrote: post #309
mcpherrinm wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rumour is, Amazon threatened to stop selling CDs for record companies who wouldn't let them sell DRM-free MP3 files. Certainly they used their massive sales presence to negotiate a deal with the record companies. I think that was the major tipping point for DRM on music. Apple followed after that.

Jobs' open letter on DRM came out seven months before Amazon even started selling MP3 files.

Negotiations for this stuff happen long before features launch.

I don't know much about Apple & Amazon's timelines, as such things would be secrets.

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

#329

Post by brokenmachine »

bsder wrote: post #213
wfo wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> we're still waiting on the ethernet port to go away but give it time You have it precisely backwards. Far from going away, everything became Ethernet. Take a look at the modern interconnection standards: HDMI, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, etc. They are all packetized transfer across an impedance controlled double pair of wires.

I think parent was probably implying wireless would take over.

I don't agree however, call me a luddite but I'm partial to the simplicity and speed of wires. Not for my phone of course, but for my main desktop PC, I'm happy it's not wireless.

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

#330

Post by brokenmachine »

Longhanks wrote: post #129
Yetanfou wrote: post #105

That Apple wants their users to only use 'approved' peripherals with their stuff (i.e. only those from which they get a share of the profits) under the guise of 'user experience' and 'convenience' does not mean the rest of the world will suddenly give up on their analogue headphones. Apple users will be able to buy dongles (which have to be Apple-approved, so Apple will still get their share of the profits leading to…

Except they clearly explained that they had interference problems with the new camera and the analogue jack, which they don't have by using a digital port. Conveniently, lightning was already there. I agree the situation is not optimal, but please, stop this "they so greedy", "this is only for selling adapters" etc. After all, it's apple's product, and if it doesn't appeal to you, don't buy it. As you have stated you…

Is that what Apple said? Why would their new camera have so much interference when interference is clearly not a problem with Android hardware?

Are you seriously telling me Apple is incapable of making a camera unit that doesn't interfere with audio output?

No, of course you're not. Apple is just doing what Apple does, and I won't buy one for that reason.

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