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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

#251

Post by jshevek »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #180

1. Apple has already publicly stated this is not about DRM and, at least when it comes to music, they have been very anti-DRM for a long time. 2. Apple earbuds aren't the only one's you can use. There are lots of lightning compatible headphones and they've been around a while. 3. This is not 'The End of Headphones Jacks'. It's one phone manufacturer. Globally iPhone market share is less than 20% so if you want a head…

> Apple has already publicly stated this is not about DRM

I'm not sure why anyone considers this relevant. It is not like apple is signing a contract which would allow us to sue them if they "change their minds".

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

#252

Post by makomk »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #156
snerbles wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the dongle add latency?

Unlikely; the audio had to be converted from digital to analog on the phone previously so now that's being moved to a dongle so it's still the same process (roughly). If it does add latency I would bet it's very unnoticeable (like sub milliseconds when compared to the built-in solution).

Entirely possible. Onboard DACs use I2S which adds basically zero latency; one of the ways of getting audio out over Lightning is to use USB which requires additional latency-causing buffering. It's possible that there's another lower-latency way of getting audio out over Lighting but only Apple knows.

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

#253

Post by kazinator »

So what? Early consumer computers (including ones from Apple) didn't have audio jacks either; you had to add audio adapter interfaces to have audio at all. It's just going full circle.

DRM has nothing to do with whether a device has an analog audio jack. Nobody in their right mind copies audio through the headphone jack output.

If an audio output device enforces DRM, that can be done just as well by a built-in analog out as by some bluetooth add-on or whatever. Analog out starts out digital. The audio data flows to some audio chips. Those chips have drivers, and the drivers can be signed, part of a signed OS image, etc. You can make a device that will only play digital-rights-managed content, even if it has analog outputs.

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

#254

Post by jshevek »

slicktux wrote: post #39

So, apple gets rid of the headphone jack and the fear of the END of headphone jacks propagates. . . This is somewhat depressing and frustrating; depressing because one companies' decision has the potential to influence other companies implementations that therefore will affect us all? Frustrating because homogenization is apparently that simple to implement? I guess this quote by who knows who is ever so true. . . "t…

I don't disagree, but I believe the 3.5 millimeter jack was destined to be replaced eventually (not universally, but in common usage) by USB type-c regardless of Apple's move.

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

#255

Post by marcosdumay »

cr1895 wrote: post #149
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but hypothetically you could send a digital encrypted signal over the audio 3.5mm jack, provided that the receiving device has an ADC and can decrypt.

So D > A > Encr. A > D > A > Ear? In practice that sounds ridiculous.

All of DRM sounds (and actually is) ridiculous.

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

#256

Post by tetraodonpuffer »

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.…

if your phone only has a 3.5mm jack, you will have to provide high quality audio through it (if you want to be able to sell it to people interested in listening to music on high quality earphones)

if your phone only has a digital jack and a certification process, you can decide to provide high quality audio to your digital headphones and low quality audio to the 3.5mm adapter.

It's not guaranteed that the DAC you are getting in the 3.5mm adapter is as good as the DAC that you were getting before inside the phone (and given that the 3.5mm adapter costs $9.99 I would be surprised if it was)

I am personally really interested in somebody testing the new external adapter DAC against the 6s internal DAC and see what the quality loss is like. Maybe these days you can create a quality DAC and sell it for super cheap, but it might also be the case that the adapter DAC is going to be much worse than it was before, and in that case there's not much you can do about it if Apple does not license the technology to 3rd parties to create their own.

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

#257

Post by AceJohnny2 »

astrodust wrote: post #242
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 destroyi…

Note that, while this article cites Cory, it wasn't written by him.

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

#258

Post by Tinyyy »

jshevek wrote: post #244
usaphp wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Like better SoCs?

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

#259

Post by mikeash »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #234
robotresearcher wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new phone comes with the analog jack adaptor in the box. Assuming the electrical and A/D, D/A specs are not different than the previous built-in analog jack, nothing has changed apart from the hassle of a dongle.

Sure, but what percentage of iphone owners will lose this dongle? I imagine its a non-trivial number. Apple's famous markup means they created a new revenue source out of thin air with this decision. Certainly, Apple has an interest in making their phones as sleek as possible, but that decision is always tied to monetization concerns. I think its a little naive to ignore the added income Apple is going to enjoy here.

The adapter costs $9. Not a huge cost to replace, and I don't think Apple is marking it up very much. Apple sells seemingly simpler cables for $19 and up, so I think they're trying really hard to make it cheap to buy.

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

#260

Post by smacktoward »

astrodust wrote: post #242
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 destroyi…

> Nobody's taking away all your analog ports.

Yet.

Let's talk again in 12 or 24 months, when all the other manufacturers have done their usual thing of stampeding blindly to ape whatever Apple's done lately.

> It's never been easier to make your own phone.

Making a phone is the easy part.

Getting permission to use that phone on closed, proprietary networks controlled entirely by a giant telcos who have absolutely no interest in letting you do so, on the other hand...

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