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I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

fastcompany.com

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Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#421

Post by randomsearch »

goldfeld wrote: post #112
S_A_P wrote: post #17

100% agree with this. Its pretty interesting that I almost never use headphones anymore now because bluetooth headphones require a few things: 1) preplanning/foresight in charging the headphones 2) refer to number 1. I have 2 really nice pairs of bluetooth headphones, and almost NEVER use them. Guess what pair gets used almost daily? my 15 year old beyerdynamic DT770s. 3.5mm or ¼" plug, closed back. Not really the mo…

Use another brand phone? It couldn't really be simpler, free market and all. Wireless things suck, I've never considered bluetooth for anything and I really, really hate my bluetooth keyboards. They have nice keys and petite builds, but I haven't used any of them for years now (one Apple, another also with great build). Can't be bothered for batteries, can't be bothered with bluetooth for different linux distros, des…

> Wireless things suck

As a counterpoint, I think wires suck. They get in the way, they get tangled, I have to transport them, they break all too often, I trip over them, they knock things over when I move with them, they blow around in the wind, they present a fire risk and a safety risk, they have some kind of physical connection which keeps changing.

Downsides of wireless: remembering to charge, and configuration (a bit annoying if you have multiple devices).

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#422

Post by zimpenfish »

pookieinc wrote: post #213

We need to take into account _Accessibility_. A large use case that I've found most people seems to miss are individuals who are older and don't have much experience with bluetooth or wireless technology. I'm fine with Apple removing the headphone jack, but they've alienated so many people to find their own path when they don't include the adapter. Anecdotal example: I recently purchased headphones for my 65-year old…

If we're doing anecdata, my mother (70) got my old iPhone and coped perfectly happily with switching to Bluetooth headphones; indeed, she managed all the pairing, etc., herself.

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#423

Post by tjoff »

pookieinc wrote: post #213

We need to take into account _Accessibility_. A large use case that I've found most people seems to miss are individuals who are older and don't have much experience with bluetooth or wireless technology. I'm fine with Apple removing the headphone jack, but they've alienated so many people to find their own path when they don't include the adapter. Anecdotal example: I recently purchased headphones for my 65-year old…

Elderly? I can guarantee that no human being on earth can confidently setup bluetooth on all devices. And that's the issue, these one-off pairings.

I had a friend sync with my car bluetooth-stereo, it took a while and from the steering wheel I couldn't be of enough help. But it worked in the end, was quite frustrating though.

Then later when I tried to use my phone again it had been lost from the receiver (eventhough it can support two concurrent connections and I've only ever paired with two devices). So now I had to go through the whole dance that it was only paired in one device.

Thing is, anything that literally takes more than 3 seconds is a disaster. After a minute of fiddling with it I remembered I had an AUX cable. And then I could patiently fix it when I had time for it.

Bluetooth is a nightmare for temporary connections. Removing the headphone-jack is akin to removing a fire-alarm system because "it isn't used anyway". Well, the times you need it it is indispensable and it doesn't cost anything.

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#424

Post by pseudolus »

wish5031 wrote: post #272
skgoa wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they've alienated so many people to find their own path when they don't include the adapter. My iPhone came with an adapter, though. I continue using the same headphones as I did with my old phone.

anecdotally, the adapter Apple provided me broke after about three weeks, and it seems like most of my family/friends are in similar situations

I've experienced a similar problem. I wear my headphones for about 1.5 - 2 hours per day while walking and I've found that I have to purchase a new adapter about every 45 days. I'm surprised that for the approximately $10 they charge for the adapter that they can't come up with a more durable design.

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#425

Post by lagadu »

EnderMB wrote: post #358
mark-r wrote: post #37

I'm voting with my wallet. My household will never have a phone that is missing the 3.5mm jack.

That's becoming increasingly more difficult on the Android side, with so many high-end vendors looking to remove the headphone jack too. Hell, OnePlus ran a campaign eight months ago laughing about others removing the headphone jack, only to remove it six months later on the 6T. I bought the OnePlus 6 because I wanted a good phone with a close-to-stock OS and a headphone jack. Nowadays, I think you'll struggle to get…

LG is keeping the minijack too for now, unlike Samsung, whose rumours indicate that are dropping it next year.

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#426

Post by zimpenfish »

lowercased wrote: post #368
m_mueller wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't be so sure - it will take years for sure, but industry has many times come up with decent standards in the past - ethernet, USB, PCI, just to give a few examples. Bluetooth as a network protocol also seems to be fine with its latest revisions, it's just the pairing that sucks - if Apple can do it on top of bluetooth I think others should also be able to.

> if Apple can do it on top of bluetooth I think others should also be able to. they're only "doing it" with their own limited hardware combinations. the experience of pairing any random bluetooth devices even in ios is still mediocre overall.

Anecdata: I have 19 Bluetooth devices on my iPhone (gamepads, speakers, headphones + dongles, watches, etc.) - of which, I'd say, only one gives me trouble[1] and none really were problematic for pairing.

[1] Cricut Air but then it also has trouble talking Bluetooth reliably to my Windows 10 desktop; I'm not blaming this on iOS just yet.

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#427

Post by saurik »

Bud wrote: post #75
S_A_P wrote: post #17

100% agree with this. Its pretty interesting that I almost never use headphones anymore now because bluetooth headphones require a few things: 1) preplanning/foresight in charging the headphones 2) refer to number 1. I have 2 really nice pairs of bluetooth headphones, and almost NEVER use them. Guess what pair gets used almost daily? my 15 year old beyerdynamic DT770s. 3.5mm or ¼" plug, closed back. Not really the mo…

AirPods require neither of these things. The case is always charging them. You want to use your beyerdynamics? Fine. Your phone came with an adapter for them.

I use AirPods. I even like them. ... but you do realize that the case isn't a magical source of energy, right? You have to charge that thing... and the airpods themselves last a remarkably long time, but they don't last that long, so I find myself having to do this awkward dance in the middle of meetings where I take one out and charge it while relying on the other one, and then I swap to charge that one... I have lightning earpods, but then I can't charge my phone at the same time, so at some point my phone starts running out of battery and I'd have to switch to the airpods anyway (lol). I have tried buying multiple brands of lightning splitters, and they all suck and often the phone isn't quite able to charge even though it says it is charging.

I honestly don't care if I have a "headphone jack": I totally agree with Apple that it was a shitty jack. It was a fragile hole that made it impossible to waterproof the damned phone. How about they just give me two lightning ports? Or a lightning port and a USB-C port, to make my dreams finally come true of only having to carry around one (USB-C) cable while still getting to be compatible with all of the stuff Apple already sold for these devices?

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#428

Post by marcodave »

sidchilling wrote: post #240

I still want to be able to charge my phone and listen to music using the headphone jack. How is that not even a use case anymore? I don’t like the AirPods because they are too easy to lose, and I’m so clumsy with headphones that I buy cheap ones every month, which comes with headphone jack only. I think Apple made a very bad UX, and never cared about users. I moved to Android phones as a result, which frankly aren’t…

> I still want to be able to charge my phone and listen to music using the headphone jack

I guess they want you to buy the wireless charging dock?

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#429

Post by pizza234 »

pookieinc wrote: post #213

We need to take into account _Accessibility_. A large use case that I've found most people seems to miss are individuals who are older and don't have much experience with bluetooth or wireless technology. I'm fine with Apple removing the headphone jack, but they've alienated so many people to find their own path when they don't include the adapter. Anecdotal example: I recently purchased headphones for my 65-year old…

I think the problem, in the specific audio area, is the technology itself rather than accessibility.

The Bluetooth standard is trash; no stack/device [combination] just works as it's supposed to do.

If BT worked, I think accessibility would pose no problem; ultimately, the intended workflow is: 1. turn on BT on the host device (if required); 2. turn on the client device; 3. listen to music.

As the BT committees and implementers keep pushing features rather than taking care of the stability, for a stable BT to ever happen, it would require all of them to be exiled and replaced by a new generation; I don't think this will ever happen.

Re: I still miss my headphone jack, and I want it back

#430

Post by ishmeister »

azag0 wrote: post #231
whiddershins wrote: post #47

Apple has had great success in the past by pushing new standards in computer peripherals, deprecating old standards, and generally moving the industry forward by fiat. I think we've all benefitted somewhat from this attitude, even if it was inconvenient. The distinction here is that the 3.5mm standard isn't/wasn't a computer peripheral standard. It is/was an audio industry standard. There are many uses for 3.5mm that…

The $15 adapter is most likely of similar quality as the DAC and other audio components in the phone, so I don’t see the point. (Also, most people I know with $1000 headphones use an external audiophile-grade DAC anyway.)

They might, but why should they have to? That tiny ESS DAC in LG phones is measurably better than a lot of external "audiophile-grade" DACs. It doesn't compromise the design or the water resistance of the phone either and probably doesn't add much cost relative to other components.

This is basically an arrogant move that can't really be technically justified. E.g. By arguing that better external options exist - better external cameras also exist, should we get rid of the camera too?

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