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'Headphone Jacks Are the New Floppy Drives' (daringfireball.net)

Posted by msmash on from the big-dilemma dept.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple's upcoming iPhone won't have a 3.5mm headphone jack. The news has already upset many people. The Verge's Nilay Patel wrote on Tuesday that the decision of getting rid of the legacy headphone port is "user hostile and stupid." Apple commentator John Gruber makes a case for why Apple's supposed move is not a bad idea at all. He writes:Patel misses the bigger problem. It's not enforcement of DRM on audio playback. It's enforcement of the MFi Program for certifying hardware that uses the Lightning port. Right now any headphone maker in the world can make any headphones they want for the standard jack. Not so with the Lightning port.He adds that the existing analog headphone jack "is more costly in terms of depth than thickness," and by getting rid of it, Apple could use the extra real estate to stuff in more battery juice. Addressing Patel's point that the move of ditching a deeply established standard will "disproportionately impact accessibility," Gruber adds that "enabling, open, and democratizing" have never been high on Apple's list of priorities for external ports. Gruber also addressed Patel's argument that introducing a Lightning Port-enabled headphone feature will make Android and iPhone headphones incompatible. He wrote: Why would Apple care about headphone compatibility with Android? If Apple gave two shits about port compatibility with Android, iPhones would have Micro-USB ports. In 1998 people used floppy drives extensively for sneaker-netting files between Macs and PCs. That didn't stop Apple from dropping it.As for "nobody is asking" Apple to remove headphone jack from the next iPhone, Gruber reminds: This is how it goes. If it weren't for Apple we'd probably still be using computers with VGA and serial ports. The essence of Apple is that they make design decisions "no one asked for".The 3.5mm headphone jack has been around for decades. We can either live with it forever, or try doing something better instead. History suggests that OEMs from across the world quickly replicate Apple's move. Just the idea of Apple removing the headphone jack -- the rumor of which first began last year -- arguably played an instrumental role in some smartphones shipping without the legacy port this year. If this is a change that we really need, Apple is perhaps the best company to set the tone for it. Though, whether we really need to get rid of the headphone jack remains debatable.

10 of 771 comments (clear)

  1. Have to give it to Apple..... by phishybongwaters · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They've managed to find a way to force you into buying all new audio equipment, or at the very least, an expensive dongle. It's genius, it really is. You thought it was bad when Apple made hardware companies pay for the right to put that ipod port on there, to provide a better "experience" well... kiss your non apple branded EVERYTHING goodbye. God I hate these guys sometimes. We don't need to replace every piece of technology we own every 2 years you assholes

    1. Re:Have to give it to Apple..... by kelarius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yet another reason not to buy apple products, I don't want to be forced to buy a $40 adapter for my $10-20 earbuds and I DO NOT want to get railroaded onto ANOTHER battery powered accessory for my phone.

      --
      Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
    2. Re:Have to give it to Apple..... by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I stopped buying Apple years ago. Their operating system is closed and sucks. I'll take Android with its warts, and since I stick to the Nexus class of devices I'm getting as close as one can get to a stock Android install.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Have to give it to Apple..... by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The biggest problem I see is that it appears they'll use the same jack for both charging and audio out. I very frequently plug into a stereo and power when playing tunes. The other issue is having to carry a dongle, because you know, people want a standard output jack to use with a lot of different devices. A phone and a dongle is bigger than a phone with a jack built in, which pretty much defeats the whole point.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    4. Re:Have to give it to Apple..... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I give Apple credit for their impressive marketing. One little unverified rumor about removal of an old port and Slashdot headlines it 3 times within a day. It's like they're using bunched panties as a power source!

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    5. Re:Have to give it to Apple..... by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The reasoning is something you'd do in a closed backroom with executives, and yet he comes right out and admits it publicly:

      Right now any headphone maker in the world can make any headphones they want for the standard jack. Not so with the Lightning port.

      That is, they want to remove customer choice and discourage competition.

  2. false comparison... by bkmoore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    By the 1990s, floppies were woefully inadequate in capacity and needed to be replaced. In which way is a 3.5 mm analog jack inadequate at delivering audio?

    1. Re:false comparison... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      100% this!

      By the end of the floppy era, they were horribly small, and the disks were nasty and unreliable. They were ripe for replacement as one can see by the number of avenues explored:

      * LS 120 drives (lost out to zip drives)
      * Zip drives, very popular, but incompatible, never fully replaced floppies.
      * CD-RWs, initially expensive, slow, unreliable didn't work in all CD drives, excellent capacity, never fully replaced floppies.
      * CD-R/DVD-R initially expensive, eventually so cheap they were disposable (people bought stacks of 100), good capacity, good compatibility (CD drives were nearly ubiquitous) and they pretty much did replace floppies
      * Weirdass ones that never stood a chance.
      * USB Flash drives which were initially expensive, rare, slow and relied on horrendously unreliable USB stacks. Eventually USB2 happened, flash got cheap, the software got reliable and they mostly won.

      The basic function was to save data more or less for transfer between machines. By the time CD-Rs took over properly, floppies were awful. Tiny capacity, very slow, and unreliable.

      The 3.5" jack is none of those. It's slightly big, but is every bit as good at transferring audio to the ears as any other kind of cable. Versus bluetooth it's obviously wired, but has very substantial advantages of not needing recharging, being lag free and compression free. It's also cheap and compatible.

      The only thing that kept floppies alive was the compatibility problem, when technically it was bad. The 3.5mm jack is not technically bad like the floppy was.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:false comparison... by Moof123 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I've never had an issue where my headphones picked up noticeable interference. Never. Mostly loud office conversations that I notice when trying to listen to music (or drown out loud office conversations to be bluntly honest)

      Besides, if I did I would hear some pops and hiss, but still hear my music. Digital bit streams just cut out when interference is enough to cause bit errors.

  3. damn glad I just bought a 6 by swschrad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I want to pick headphones that fit and sound right, not have some cheesy overpriced shit like Beats forced on me. if I'm at home, I can use my AKG studios. at the exercise joint, earbuds off the rack at Tarzhay.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?