Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

fastcompany.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 741 posts

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

#301

Post by Lio »

jamesrcole wrote: post #281
yellowapple wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The idea that this is simply a cheap cash-grab sounds like a conspiracy theory to me." Conspiracy theories are sometimes true. In this case, vendor lock-in is Apple's bread and butter, and it doesn't take any mental gymnastics at all to recognize that removing a standard and universal port without any actually good reason fits that pattern remarkably well.

1) it still allows standard 3.5mm headphone jacks to be used. 2) Bluetooth is a standard, and Apple isn't the only company that makes Bluetooth headphones.

...if you want to settle for lower quality Bluetooth audio.

Apple don’t support high quality Bluetooth audio standards except with the license of their own proprietary technology.

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

#302

Post by rosser »

skgoa wrote: post #265
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…

> 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.

The included adapter only works for listening to audio. If your earbuds offer a mic or inline controls, those don't.

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

#304

Post by thrower123 »

Klover wrote: post #291
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…

Just attach the tiny little dongle that comes with the phone to the headphones. Then say to him that he can put the charging cable there and also the headphones cable. Would this be too complicated too? You can get the EarPods with a lightning connector. If that’s too complicated then maybe you can draw a picture explaining it?

Then you misplace the lot and you're out $50-$100 worth of kit, rather than a $4 set of 3.5mm headphones, which you already have six compatible pairs of sitting in the culch drawer.

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

#305

Post by tpxl »

deniska wrote: post #169

15 years ago most phones didn't have a 3.5 jack and you had to have a dongle. I don't want to go back to that time.

Curious, what did they have then? As far as I can remember, my two first phones around 14 and 12 years ago both had headphone jacks.

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

#306

Post by ayoisaiah »

hacalox wrote: post #285

If you miss the headphone jack don't buy an Iphone. When buying a product you are actually validating its design with your purchase. Every dollar is a vote and money is the only language companies talk.

The problem is many Android manufacturers are also following suit for no apparent reason.

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

#307

Post by buboard »

akvadrako wrote: post #295
buboard wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i mean, people buy turntables nowadays. new ones, not just vintage and antiques. Audio equipment tends to age veery slowly

That's not how it worked. Turntables became obsolete then they become popular years later because everything about them is inferior.

but also because people have old vinyl disks which they can revive. and people complained about the cold sound of CDs forever. it's not like tech, where you don't really see people crying over their burnt memory chips.

Especially for audio connectors, i don't think it is a coincidence that the 3.5mm jacks and its fatter brother have not changed since forever. people wanted to use it with their older stuff.

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

#308

Post by randycupertino »

daveFNbuck wrote: post #275
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…

We don't just need to consider accessibility for the elderly. I need to regularly reconfigure my Bluetooth connections on my phone. They just randomly stop working. With the latest version of Android, I couldn't figure out how to even access the Bluetooth settings. When I connect some devices, they don't show up in the list of paired devices. Somehow it still ended up working, but I don't know how or why. When I walk…

This is why I hold on to my iPhone 6 like it's precious and won't install any software updates so as not to kill the battery. I have bluetooth headphones but they're a pain to charge and the headphone jack just works consistently. I love my iPhone 6!!

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

#309

Post by Mtinie »

rosser wrote: post #302
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.

The included adapter only works for listening to audio. If your earbuds offer a mic or inline controls, those don't.

Not in the case of Bose QC15s, the mic works just fine through the adapter.
Post reply on HN