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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

#631

Post by Spooky23 »

falcrist wrote: post #581
Spooky23 wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reliability is huge. The bluetooth implementations all suck. My $40k car is about as reliable and predictable from a bluetooth perspective as Chinese knock-off Jawbone copycat from 2007.

WHY is this still the case? I mean, Bluetooth is fundamentally just a communications protocol broadcast with some kind of antenna. Yet I don't have these kinds of issues making wifi or cell service work. Who decided to use such a flaky protocol for audio and such, and then remove the reliable connection?

It’s like many things designed by committee of stakeholders with very different needs.

Everyone gets what they want, except for the end user!

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

#632

Post by rusk »

ddingus wrote: post #604
rusk wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Heck, I can make something to just write the stream to a file Not so easy if the analog signal only emerges at the earpiece ...

Are you kidding? Go and get that signal. Even if they pot the thing, it would take a day.

You have a different definition of easy from most people I know.

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

#633

Post by tempestn »

DanBC wrote: post #411
tempestn wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the 3.5mm port is certainly easier than the USB port to make waterproof. Probably easier than speakers and microphones too.

Speakers and microphones just need a bit of gore tex. These are off the shelf parts, and companies like Apple etc can easily spec their own. https://www.gore.com/products/categories/venting?view=portab... I agree that it's also really easy to make 3.5 mm jack sockets waterproof.

Yeah, I'm not trying to imply the speakers are hard to waterproof. Just that the 3.5mm is arguably even simpler.

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

#634

Post by rusk »

ddingus wrote: post #619
rusk wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh true - I didn't think you planned to go to such lengths (-: "Ridiculously Easy"? - I wouldn't go that far, but very much within the realms of possibility for a determined attacker I'd say. But down the line .. as actual physical countermeasures become more sophisticated maybe not so.

Worst case? Couple the device and a great mic in clay.

sounds like a DRM sales pitch

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

#635

Post by camelNotation »

jamesrcole wrote: post #32
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #3

The blog ends with the best and most insightful comment: And no human’s life is measurably better since Apple had the “courage” to remove the 3.5 mm jack. But a lot of our lives are just a little worse. The author also points towards active de-standardisation between Android and iOS: "if only there was one universal audio port they both could use" Apple gets an advantage from this with their iron-grip on compatible p…

Personally, I detest wired headphones. I find they always get caught on things while I'm wearing them, and because of the neck problems I have that's a big issue for me (and as well as that, they'd always get tangled up in my bag, which was a bit of a hassle). So I'm personally glad they've removed the headphone jack, because it will help push wireless into the mass market (and bring down prices) at a faster rate tha…

Removing the headphone jack doesn't push wireless into the mass market. It was already in the mass market and it was going to be in the mass market regardless of how Apple designed their phones. If you want to use a wireless headset, you always could. Removing the headphone jack didn't give you any sort of advantages as a wireless user, it just removed an option you didn't use.

And no, it's not courageous to do something dumb and getting skewered for being dumb is not evidence of courage.

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

#636

Post by camelNotation »

sneak wrote: post #336
jamesrcole wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I detest wired headphones. I find they always get caught on things while I'm wearing them, and because of the neck problems I have that's a big issue for me (and as well as that, they'd always get tangled up in my bag, which was a bit of a hassle). So I'm personally glad they've removed the headphone jack, because it will help push wireless into the mass market (and bring down prices) at a faster rate tha…

See also: Floppies, RS-232 serial, optical drives.

The options that replaces each of those items were superior to the older design.

A wireless headset requires charging, requires pairing, is more expensive, is more likely to break. It's not a superior technology, it's an alternative technology. You don't eliminate options just because alternatives exist.

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

#637

Post by zrobotics »

sjwright wrote: post #390
SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50% is "a lot of users". Ranting about Android doesn't change that.

His ranting style is unhelpful but the underlying point is sound—Apple device owners update the operating software at a dramatically higher rate and frequency than any other significant competitor platform. If there is a contingent of iOS device users “conditioned” to avoid upgrades, it would be impossible to prove this contingent exists statistically. Frequent vocal complainers on internet forums probably only accou…

Does that really mean anything, though? I'm sure win10 users update at a higher rate than that, but that doesn't mean that people are clamoring for Microsoft's newest update.

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

#638

Post by sjwright »

zrobotics wrote: post #637
sjwright wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His ranting style is unhelpful but the underlying point is sound—Apple device owners update the operating software at a dramatically higher rate and frequency than any other significant competitor platform. If there is a contingent of iOS device users “conditioned” to avoid upgrades, it would be impossible to prove this contingent exists statistically. Frequent vocal complainers on internet forums probably only accou…

Does that really mean anything, though? I'm sure win10 users update at a higher rate than that, but that doesn't mean that people are clamoring for Microsoft's newest update.

The Windows ecosystem has a far higher percentage of users running older versions—e.g. 8.1, 7, 2012 R2.

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

#639

Post by mti27 »

arvinsim wrote: post #189
Bud wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Your phone came with an adapter for them. Not anymore https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/12/17827970/no-more-free-iph...

Removing this dongle is Apple's next "act of courage" :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_fvQpyuK78

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

#640

Post by ddingus »

rusk wrote: post #634
ddingus wrote: post #619

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worst case? Couple the device and a great mic in clay.

sounds like a DRM sales pitch

Well they can go right ahead. It won't really matter to me. If they end up better than me, I just don't buy that stuff. Don't need it it's a big world out there.

That's pretty much a policy. If I pay for it, fine. But I have it in generally useful form. No lock-in. Or I don't buy it.

And I don't mind hacking to get it in general useful form. Easy peasy.

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