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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

#241

Post by astrodust »

taigeair wrote: post #191
_ph_ wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it is worth noting that Apple was rather pushing the record industry to go off DRM and they finally succeeded in it.

Also people wouldn't buy their products if they forced DRM. Apple likes money.

Apple waged a war against DRM on MP3 files and won. They tried to do the same with movies and haven't prevailed yet, so we're stuck with DRM on those. It sucks.

Blame the MPAA here. Apple would rather have it DRM free. It's better for consumers, it's better for their sales.

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

#242

Post by astrodust »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #230
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #178

> When you plug an audio cable into a smartphone, it just works. No, hardware-wise you're still going through a DAC, and the complex audio subsystem of the OS is still deciding, upon receiving the connection signal, to re-route the application audio through that headphone DAC. Or not. Jack or Lightning doesn't change this. > Apple can choose which manufacturers get to create Lightning-compatible audio devices. Sure.…

This is how I see all the Cory Doctorow/BoingBoing fear mongering. He's made a career out of scaring people and being as disingenious as possible, but because he picks on "the man" the typical college/highschool types praise him as some sort of freedom fighter. Internet fandom really deserves better heroes. The EFF itself is almost as bad and is run by seemingly the most paranoid and reactionary people out there. I i…

What would Cory do without Apple to hate on? I worry about the guy.

Nobody's forcing you to buy an iPhone 7. Nobody's taking away all your analog ports. It's like the NRA here getting all up in arms because someone had the audacity to declare a gun free zone in a school which impinges on their freedoms.

Seriously, get a grip Cory. You're free to criticize Apple's decisions but don't make it out like Apple's destroying the world.

It's never been easier to make your own phone. If Cory and the EFF were really interested in changing the world they'd go and make an open-source, open-hardware smart phone so they had something to point to when people are feeling cheated by companies like Apple.

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

#243

Post by jrowley »

throwanem wrote: post #236
jrowley wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> Enter the address of the home where you grew up Well, that was five seconds well spent.

You can enter whatever address you want but it is kind of erie to do it with your home address.

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

#244

Post by jshevek »

usaphp wrote: post #184
csense wrote: post #141

The lack of a headphone jack is simply yet another excellent reason not to buy an iPhone. What confuses me is why so many people continue to buy Apple products when they're overpriced, locked-down and treat developers like crap.

How is Apple iPhone more overpriced than other flagship devices from say Samsung? Last I heard the note 7 costs more than the iPhone.

The Android phones that cost the same amount as an iPhone usually have superior hardware - higher quality components within them.

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

#245

Post by astrodust »

jshevek wrote: post #190
Flow wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hasn't Apple for a decade fought against DRM the music companies insists on?

Apple loves DRM, when it suits them.

Their OS has no DRM. Microsoft's is loaded down with license codes and activation rituals. Watch who you're blaming about loving DRM.

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

#246

Post by jshevek »

noonespecial wrote: post #235
kylewpppd wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It cannot be about removing the DAC, there's still one for the internal speakers.

Certainly not. Its about removing the jack to make the phone slimmer or more aesthetic or more waterproof. Or all of the above. The internal DAC is certainly part of a SOC anyway. The point is that having an Apple DAC in a dongle makes no fundamental difference from a DRM perspective over just using the internal one on old phones. Its not a plot. We're in Texas here, hearing hoofbeats and everyone is insisting that z…

> Its about removing the jack to make the phone slimmer or more aesthetic or more waterproof.

Other manufacturers seem to be able to achieve these ends without removing the headphone jack.

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

#247

Post by Tinyyy »

michrassena wrote: post #138

The discussion seems to be easily diverted into one about audio, but I think something that I've not seen in discussion about this issue is the way some app makers have used the analog audio port as a data jack. I've long had the impression this was a workaround that was begrudgingly tolerated by Apple. Though we've all heard about how heavy-handed their app store policies are, so maybe I'm imagining things. But anyw…

The utility of the audio port as a data jack is so minuscule compared to the impact and backlash of removing the 3.5mm port that I don’t think it is much of a factor at all.

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

#248

Post by agentgt »

ajross wrote: post #92
agentgt wrote: post #34

> Besides, with only Apple earbuds currently supporting the Lightning audio connection, the only way to connect an iPhone 7 to a recording or mixing device will be over the suboptimal Bluetooth connection or a dongle provided by Apple. If you are recording stuff from your iPhone using the 3.5mm jack you are already suboptimal perhaps even to the bluetooth. For one you are going through the iPhone DAC (luckily the iph…

> 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 agree most usages of bluetooth are not going to be good (hence why I said "perhaps"). However I have a Cambridge Audio DAC with a bluetooth adapter that does have aptx and A2DP support. Does it sound better than the straight 3.5mm? I think so but that is probably because I think I like (cringe) upsampling :).

Of course in the car everything sounds like garbage to me. I don't have the speakers nor the attention span nor the multitasking ability to notice it.

That being said interference is always noticeable.

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

#249

Post by astrodust »

dTal wrote: post #183
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…

>If you're old enough to have used a floppy disk drive you do not miss them. I am, and I do. Floppies were ubiquitous, durable, reusable, and cheap enough to give away. There's no replacement today - flash drives are the closest thing but when was the last time someone handed you one with no expectation of getting it back? Or bought a box of 50? Sneakernet became much less vibrant with the death of the floppy.

Flash drives cost almost nothing. I'm not going to lose any sleep over a $4 flash drive being given to someone and never getting it back. In terms of inflation that's cheaper than giving someone a floppy that cost $1.

Floppy disks were always terrible. Slow, unreliable, prone to failure at the worst possible time. A simple magnet could trash them beyond repair. A bit of water could render them unreadable. Leave it loose in your bag and it gets bent? The thing was toast.

In the dying days of the floppy disk, around the time Apple introduced the iMac with no floppy drive, they were already obsolete. 1.44MB could barely hold anything useful at that time, most people doing any serious exchange had already moved on to Zip drives because they held a more reasonable 100MB, or CD-R since you could burn six times more than that onto them. If you had tiny WordPerfect files then floppies were adequate, barely, but what kind of a market is that?

So long floppy. You won't be missed.

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

#250

Post by aidenn0 »

ajross wrote: post #92
agentgt wrote: post #34

> Besides, with only Apple earbuds currently supporting the Lightning audio connection, the only way to connect an iPhone 7 to a recording or mixing device will be over the suboptimal Bluetooth connection or a dongle provided by Apple. If you are recording stuff from your iPhone using the 3.5mm jack you are already suboptimal perhaps even to the bluetooth. For one you are going through the iPhone DAC (luckily the iph…

> 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.
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