When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
arstechnica.com
When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
1–10 of 140 posts
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#2A game system (worth around $100) that was not meant to have a multimedia experience vs something that has been a multimedia experience that costs around $850 (the only one I would buy)...
Is the comparison a joke? Because they also omitted reference to more comparable products that deleted the jack.
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#3The difference here is that the primary purpose of an iPhone is to make phone calls. And uses multimedia, like music. Leading to this:
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#4If you wanted to replace the headphone jack with your "new thing" the most effective way to do that would have to involve as many audio hardware companies as possible also producing headphones that work with your "new thing". You would want to pre-announce it along with specs and make it an open standard that other companies can utilise without paying royalties.
The GBA still wouldn't have had anywhere near enough market share to pull it off. Apple definitely could've, I think. I haven't followed closely enough, but are other accessory manufacturers able to produce headphones for the new iPhone, or is it completely limited to whatever Apple release?
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#5The difference here is that the primary purpose of an iPhone is to make phone calls. And uses multimedia, like music. Leading to this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z_wImaGRkNY
Mentioned in the article.
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#6A game system (worth around $100) that was not meant to have a multimedia experience vs something that has been a multimedia experience that costs around $850 (the only one I would buy)... Is the comparison a joke? Because they also omitted reference to more comparable products that deleted the jack.
I don't think the comparison is a joke, considering they mentioned these differences in the article.
Edit: out of curiosity, what are the more comparable products they omitted?
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#7If you wanted to replace the headphone jack with your "new thing" the most effective way to do that would have to involve as many audio hardware companies as possible also producing headphones that work with your "new thing". You would want to pre-announce it along with specs and make it an open standard that other companies can utilise without paying royalties. The GBA still wouldn't have had anywhere near enough ma…
I think it had a comparable (or even better?) percentage of the market, though probably fewer actual units.
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#8If you wanted to replace the headphone jack with your "new thing" the most effective way to do that would have to involve as many audio hardware companies as possible also producing headphones that work with your "new thing". You would want to pre-announce it along with specs and make it an open standard that other companies can utilise without paying royalties. The GBA still wouldn't have had anywhere near enough ma…
> I haven't followed closely enough, but are other accessory manufacturers able to produce headphones for the new iPhone, or is it completely limited to whatever Apple release?
I cannot fathom the amount of (legitimate) outrage that would follow Apple's decision to limit audio output to Apple-branded products.
Several companies already make Lightning-connected headphones, and you can still connect whichever Bluetooth headphones/speakers you want.
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#9If you wanted to replace the headphone jack with your "new thing" the most effective way to do that would have to involve as many audio hardware companies as possible also producing headphones that work with your "new thing". You would want to pre-announce it along with specs and make it an open standard that other companies can utilise without paying royalties. The GBA still wouldn't have had anywhere near enough ma…
Other accessory manufacturers can produce Lightning headphones (what the new iPhone uses, and older ones can use them too) and they are starting to. A quick search reveals a decent selection, although of course tiny in comparison to what's out there with the standard connector. Some of them are in stock right now, which implies that Apple gave them information in advance. A royalty-free open standard probably isn't happening, though.
Re: When Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack
#10I distinctly remember this at the time. I just played all my games with no sound, a mild frustration at best as it was the only real option as a kid if you wanted to play games at night without goofy adapters for your GBA!
It's more akin to the iPhone 1 not including a jack then adding one later than the iPhone 7 removing it.
Another note: Original Gameboy games stuck way out the back. The GBA SP sure made a lot of sacrifices, and odd design choices but the fact that it fixed the biggest issue means a lot for it.