Slashdot Mirror
Phones Without Headphone Jacks Are Here... and They're Extremely Annoying (mashable.com)
A few weeks ago, we had an intense discussion on what would happen if Apple's next iPhone doesn't have a headphone port -- and what that means for the rest of the industry, as well as the pros and cons of ditching the legacy port. Over the past few months, we have seen many smartphone manufacturers launch new handsets that don't have a headphone jack. Mashable has a report today in which it says that it is already causing frustration among users. From the article: In the Android camp, phones like Lenovo's Moto Z and Moto Z Force and China's LeEco have already scrapped the 3.5mm headphone jack; to listen to music on the company's three latest phones, users need to plug in USB Type-C headphones, go wireless, or use a dongle. I'm all for letting go of old technologies to push forward, but what is happening is actually going to make things worse. The headphone jack has worked for 50 years and it can work for another 50 more because it's universal. Headphones I plug into my iPhone work in an Android phone, in a BlackBerry, in my computer, in my PS4 controller, in my tablet, in any speaker with audio-out, and so on. I can walk into any electronics store and pick up a pair of headphones and not have to worry about compatibility with any of my devices. I know it'll work. [...] With a universal headphone jack, I never have to worry whether or not the crappy pack-in iPhone EarPods I have will work with the Android phone I'm reviewing or not. I also never have to worry if I'll be able to plug my headphones into a friend's phone to listen to some new song. Same applies for when I want to use my earbuds and headphones with another person's device. And there lies the real issue. I will need different dongles -- a Lightning-to-headphone-jack and a USB-Type-C-to-headphone-jack to be prepared because I do carry both iPhone and Android phone on me daily. Dongles also get lost.
It's simple, really. New is not necessarily better. Change for the sake of change is rarely beneficial to the end user.
But, unfortunately for the public, neither observation helps sell more widgets. Rather quite the opposite.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Yeah, but in 3.5 mm there is mono, stereo, passive microphone, active microphone, non-standard inline controls, impedance sensing, FM antenna. So 3.5 mm is far from standard.
I'm also a strong supporter of sticking with something universal and that works well. There was no need to start removing this jack from phones except so they could be thinner. However phones are so thin know most people put a phone phone directly into a case to protect it from it being flung across the room because it is so small it's difficult to hold.
I'm happy my OnePlus 3 still has a jack and I'm hoping the upcoming Nexus Sailfish and Marlin also include the Jack.
.
The media content industry has already done away with analogue video output jacks. Now they are focusing on audio.
So I guess you can't use a generic charger or a battery pack while using a USB headphones.
It's been decades I got plagued with loose mini-jack connectors. My 4s and iPad 1 still work perfectly, as do newer devices I have.
It's been a complain by Apple for long that MiniJack is too thick for the design goals they were targeting. Reusing BT or USB/C or Lightning connectors saves port space, allows for a second speaker (eg., in Apple's forthcoming design if we're to believe the hype). I think manufacturers will come to realize we still want jacks (I do as I dont want to have to charge my headphones) and provide combined-plug allowing charging while still having MiniJack headphones connected. If not, their loss.
Doesn't anyone remember the G4 cube? I do. Maybe the current crop of Apple execs and designers don't - or they just really don't want to - but it also was released with no headphone/speaker jack. While that was not the sole reason for its failure, it was a contributing part.
The G4 cube was cute - similar to how the SGI O2 (the "toaster") was cute, but cute did not equate to functionality.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Micro USB jacks wear out even more quickly. I wonder what the new connectors will be like. Everything is getting shittier.
what you describe is most of the china crap that you buy today.
that does not mean that in-spec jacks and plugs are a problem. in fact, they are not!
so, complain about buying dollar buds. but don't say all jacks and plugs are bad, since that's just plain out WRONG.
its not my fault that you buy crap and complain about the format.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
What about Paypal here or Square?
For what value of "ridiculously"? I don't have a single 3.5 mm jack in the house with bad connection poltergeists.
But then, I'm still running an NAD 7140 from the 1980s as my stereo amplifier. Had to go in there last week with electrical contact cleaner to take the crackle out of the volume and balance pots, but I'm sure the audio jack still works perfectly. I'd have replaced some of the electrolytics, too, if my ears could hear any defects.
Obviously, though, I'm not a desirable Apple customer on several counts (ability to fix things myself, willingness to keep using unfashionable equipment that still works fine, ability to tell whether unfashionable equipment still works fine), so there is that.
While I'm not thrilled at seeing the headphone jack disapear the author's reasons for keeping it apply to maybe .001 of the population. How many people really have a reason to carry both an iphone and a droid on them? Using my headphones on some one else's phone? How often does THAT come up for a normal person?
I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
I have a Ford Focus with Bluetooth audio and commute 48 miles into downtown Seattle. It works for only about the first fifteen miles after I leave home. After that, I have to plug the aux audio input jack into my stereo. By leaving off the headphone jack, it means I can only listen to audio books for about the first third of my commute.
What needs to happen but NEVER will, is people need to STOP BUYING products that do asinine stuff like this.. I guar-on-teeee if NOBODY bought these phones and raised a stink with the manufacturer of said phones, you'd get some action.. Not from the "raising a stink" but from the NOT BUYING....
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
Don't buy phones without headphone jacks, and don't review them either. Plus, phones that thin likely won't hold up in the pants pockets of the 50% of the population that carries them there.
That's exactly the problem. The companies want proprietary. Hell, this goes back the earliest Macs, with their unique mouse, keyboard, and printer ports, and their scuzzy drive connectors... I can understand the reasons, but it's one of those things held them back in market share. Imagine, with their unquestionably superior software and CPUs of the time, how much they would completely dominate if they just opened the tent a little bit to let others play.
And where would the PC be if IBM's bios wasn't pried open? Too bad the same ruling didn't apply to Apple
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Bluetooth works fine, for my over-the-ear headphones AND vehicle.
Now I'm just hoping Apple gives me decent wireless charging and consistent connectivity to iTunes without having to plug in (this functionality seems spotty, at best)
I haven't had to fiddle with poor jacks in nearly 20 years. Stop buying cheap garbage and you'll be okay.
It wears out ridiculously fast. I've had to find the "sweet spot" on an untold number of 3.5mm jacks. You either have to twist the plug to the perfect angle or apply pressure on the correct side, or else you get no sound or severely diminished sound.
This has been my experience as well. Not every jack fails - but it still happens more often than for any other jack type that I commonly use. However, I'm still not happy about the move to USB (or Lightning) for everything.
Why? Because manufacturers are cheaping out by actually removing the headphone jack, rather than replacing it. If everything plugs in by USB, good - but I still need to be able to plug in more than one thing at a time, and no I don't want to add a bulky hub to do it.
Phones are the size of mini-tablets these days and you're telling me there is no more room for a headphone jack?
I've never had that problem in 40+ years of using headphone jacks and plugs. Maybe you're using them improperly.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
If it happens once, it's a problem with the headphone jack. If it happens over and over, it's a problem with the user.
I have a drawer full of broken MP3 players, some cheap, some expensive. They all have the same problem... a broken spring contact. I tried taking one apart to solder in a new jack, no way because it's too integrated to the circuit board. If you're not going to keep a phone longer than a couple years, then it'll probably last long enough.
The headphone jack has worked for 50 years and it can work for another 50 more because it's universal. Headphones I plug into my iPhone work in an Android phone, in a BlackBerry, in my computer, in my PS4 controller, in my tablet, in any speaker with audio-out, and so on.
This is the problem with your analog headphone jack -- there's no vendor lock-in possible! This grievous error must be stopped.
Apple almost had this going on with the original iPhone, they just sank the jack down a couple millimeters into the phone so most headphones couldn't plug in properly because their plug was too large. But soon headphone makers started slimming down the plug diameter, and those crafty Chinese made little dongles for existing phones to connect. And what could Apple do? They couldn't copyright a certain diameter hole. But now, oh, but now... we have digital audio transmission possible and decoding chips so small they can literally be inside the headphones themselves, or even just the plug you hook into the device. So now we can just encrypt everything and make headphone producers pay the device manufacturer for a license to be allowed to make third-party accessories. Apple can make money without lifting a finger now. And you wont be able to use your nice $300 earphones your got for your android device or laptop on your iPhone as well. No, now your get to buy two pairs of headphones for twice the price instead.
Seriously, though. I can't wait to hear how Apple spins this as being a good thing at the next iPhone announcement in a few months here.
I don't think the 3.5mm jack is actually a panacea. It's limited to a single stereo output, and numerous incompatible hacks have been grafted on to allow it be used for microphone input and for phone or music controls.
But you can't just get rid of it without an adequate replacement at the ready, with cheap adapters available that you can easily just slot onto the end of a 3.5mm jack.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I'm sick to help with Dongles. My MacBook Pro runs out of ports. The MacBook is beyond stupid. I want to cry for people when I see these crazy hub attachments to get the ports they need just to use their system the way they need too. I like the clean look and the idea of proximity and wireless but it is way to soon to get rid of all these ports!
I have an easy solution. iPhone 7... Fuck you Apple I'm buying a 6S. iPhone 7S comes and fuck you Apple I'm not upgrading. iPhone 8 comes or my iPhone 6 breaks I'll be looking for another 6. I don't want a dongle. Otherwise if I wait it out a few more years say 3-5 maybe wireless audio will be better.
Another thing that annoyed the crap out of me today was changing and recharging batteries on all my devices. This fucking sucks guys! Some days I think this is worse than dealing with all the cables... I mean I still have to plug in to charge. Then when I'm at the office and everyone of 100 people in close proximity all have 5-10 wireless things and we're all stepping on each other... This fucking sucks...
I bought a dedicated music player. A Cowon P1. It doesn't have any wireless. It runs linux. It has a fucking headphone jack. So really what Apple and these other guys are doing is driving an anti-convergence. The golden days when my mp3 player and phone became have once again parted ways. Now my phone is just a phone and I can tap out msgs, take a few notes, check email, or in a limited way check a web site while I'm out and waiting... But it doesn't do music. That's my opinion. I'm doing doing Apple music streaming with Beats headphones.
BTW Apple if you you happen to read this. I've spent $1000s on my headphones. So remove the port... Fuck you. Oh but there's a dongle? Go slap yourself in the face with it. This is bullshit.
It wears out ridiculously fast. I've had to find the "sweet spot" on an untold number of 3.5mm jacks. You either have to twist the plug to the perfect angle or apply pressure on the correct side, or else you get no sound or severely diminished sound.
This has been my experience as well. Not every jack fails - but it still happens more often than for any other jack type that I commonly use.
This is cray. I've used tons of audio jacks over the years (being both an audio person and a mobile DJ). I've worn our FAR more micro-USB ports (and more expensively to replace) than I've ever had problems with headphone jacks. And the two times I've had problems with headphones, a tiny amount of solder fixed it.
More to the point -- simpler is better.
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
You could do something like tape the adapter to the headphones, or just leave it on the headphones (like 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapters)
Most earbuds are terrible crap that's physically broken anyway.
For some other pressing need you might have a 3m or 5m long cable with a jack on one end and a USB C on one end (or a 40m long one and if it's broken on one end, cut it)
3-way jack (stereo + microphone) are even sillier, I don't want to know about them.
Other way around : leave a female USB C to male jack adapter on a female jack input somewhere (or a USB C to RCA), use a USB C to USB C cable (we'll see)
Feel free to see it as a dick move and it is, but you had multiple format to worry about already (like dual mono big jack vs small stereo jack vs RCA) and USB C has analog audio still.
So instead you want to break your power charging plug hole, the one you now generally use once per day and that with a fixed battery. So instead a potential proprietary socket, that will wear out, destroying the phone because no it connects to nothing and you can not pull out a flat battery and replace it with a charged battery. Yep, gullibly being sold another B$ marketing line. So with an existing ear socket phone you can listen through the usb socket with the right hardware and software but not fucking while you are charging the phone but that's OK you can swap out the battery and charge it separately, oh wait no you fucking can't.
When I am sitting back at home listening to my phone with a headset, as I am not moving, I charge up the phone at the same time, it's common sense and I have decades old cd/radio players that still plug fine their headsets work fine, so worn socket, likely crappy off spec plugs.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
expect to buy one in the next couple months (OK, I'm not all that serious about it yet). The 2 things I demand are a regular headphone jack, and an SDCC card slot. If a phone has both of those I go on to look at other features.
Using the headphone jack I can plug my phone into my stereo system and listen to MP3s. Granted, it's not top quality. But it's better than earbud, and definitely better than nothing. My stereo has neither USB nor bluetooth, and damned if I'm gonna buy a new stereo with my new phone.
I've never had that problem in 40+ years of using headphone jacks and plugs.
Actually, I have had this problem before - but not for the past 20-30 years. Back in the days when cheap transistor radios were a thing, I semi-regularly had earphone/headphone jacks break on me. Usually you could easily re-solder them, unless the manufacturer did something evil like encase it in rubber.
But with computers, iPods, and smartphones? Never had an issue.
#DeleteChrome
Quite frankly, who cares about fashion when you buy stuff like NAD? Just look at the latest stuff from McIntosh and such, they're perhaps even uglier than they used to be, but that doesn't matter. Sound quality is still excellent and will completely trash anything you'll find at an Apple store or referred to by an Apple employee.
> I'm still running an NAD 7140 from the 1980s
Sweeet. A couple months ago, I got a solid TEAC amp, powering a set of KEF bookshelf speakers. Combined with Apple Music subscription, I'm listening to all sorts of awesome stuff. Got to the point I stopped watching junk food tv, put the tv on a rolling stand and roll it into and out of the room as needed.
Enjoy!
Apple Store doesn't sell hi fi. They sell portable Bluetooth speakers. Of course the quality is worse.
The electronics, powered by the lightning jack, in a lightning-to-headphone-jack adapter could be small enough to be part of the jack body. An optional version including a lightning jack could provide for charging and other accessories.
Strap on battery packs are typically designed to fit the phone model. Those designed for jack-less phones could extend the lightning jack.
With only one hole to deal with wishing for a water resistant iPhone 7 could become a reality.
I take transit (or occasionally drive) from 40 miles south of Seattle, back and forth to UW. My old Sony DR-BT101 Bluetooth headphones work very reliably with my iPhone for the entire trip, including in downtown and at the U.
However those headphones are "old" Bluetooth... when I've tried out various Bluetooth 4 devices, I've run into frequent problems (usually audio that's noticeably lagging the source - not so much disconnections). I'm not particularly enamoured with what I've experienced from newer revisions of the spec.
#DeleteChrome
So what's the objection to everyone using BT headsets? People hate wires today.
Just look at the latest stuff from McIntosh and such, they're perhaps even uglier than they used to be, but that doesn't matter. Sound quality is still excellent and will completely trash anything you'll find at an Apple store or referred to by an Apple employee.
Because even with the mellow analog sound, how big is that tube smartphone going to be?
Obviously we should never have moved from the original 1/4" (6.35mm) audio headphone jack, which just works.
As a bonus, phones would have to be a little thicker, so might not have such crappy battery life now.
I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT remove it. That is all.
The problem has always been, like every connector ever devised by humankind, "Good ones are good and cheap ones suck". I've got a Sangean portable radio that I've had at least 20 years, and I've never had sound cut out or had to mess with moving the plug around to get it to work. My Gen One iPod still works fine. My old brown Zune 30gig with the mechanical drive inside has never had any problem with the headphone jack, and I've plugged and unplugged my phones tens of times a day.
I've thrown away a bunch of clever little low-cost devices where the headphone jack is just shit.
You really think that USB-C isn't going to have the exact same problems? I've got an ASUS tablet over here that I use to read out on the back porch and I've got to do all sorts of jiggery-pokery to get the thing to charge because the USB-mini (or micro, I can't remember which is which) jack has gotten looser than the Octomom's hoohah. All jacks go bum. I don't care if it's Thunderbolt or USB or firewire or eSATA or whatever.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Not any more, they don't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
You are welcome on my lawn.
Oh man, I would definitely carry a tube smartphone.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Listen, I can get you a really good deal on some ceramic dialectric directional cable elevators that will increase your signal/noise ratio by 60%. YOU CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE.
http://www.reddragonaudio.com/...
You are welcome on my lawn.
Indeed, I've never had a modern 3,5mm headphone port wear out. I've had a lot of micro-USB ports wear out. : And it's only logical that would be the case, the electrodes on the headphone port are far more robust than those on a micro-USB port.
I know that the standard response to "3,5mm port removal is the feature that nobody requested" is "it'll be painless and we'll be able to use the extra space to more useful internal hardware without having to make the phone bigger". But just ignoring the "painless" thing... how much more "capability" can you add in such a little space? That's enough for what, maybe 5% more battery time?
Maybe I'm wierd, but I couldn't give a rat's arse how thick a phone is... I just want it to be robost and not a big headache.
Hourglass says she knows a kid in Iowa who grows up to be president.
Yeah, out in the boonies, it works. But wait a few years, until you take a bus with a bunch of kids with iToys. You know how difficult it is to get a clear WiFi channel in a crowded environment? Well, the same thing will happen with Bluetooth. Your device will be fighting it out with a whole bunch of other devices over limited radio spectrum. The resulting fiasco is completely predictable.
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
So far, my objection is that they don't work well. I got a BT hands-free headset, and had the idea of listening to audiobooks on my commute. Nope - after a while, my Android phone somehow borked the volume. It plays so soft I can't hear the thing. Until this tech gets much more reliable, it's too early to kill the analog jack.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
I use Monster Cable to connect my Bluetooth Sennheisers to my smartphone. Oh, wait ....
Crappy jacks in crappy phones have their connections break away from the circuit board.
If you play sound through bluetooth does the audio quality even come from the phone itself? Or are you depending on some headphone that is now a headphone with a battery and a low power soundcard fit in?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Being a stupid shit is your fault, but everyone else's problem. Here's to hoping someone flushes soon.
(Apple hasn't released a phone sans headphone jack. Those would be Android phones, you bigoted, hateful shit.)
My car has a 3.5 but not bluetooth, my 10 stereo systems, all my other laptops.. We have three bluetooth headphones but why fuss with the battery, two of the three use the alternate 3.5 plug because they're on mp3 players without bluetooth.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
What do you need that newfangled stuff for? I have a Quad 33/303 setup.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
They did lose out on the power cord market when they all switched to USB.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
If that is true, then it is true because it is the jack that you use far more often than any other type of jack. I treat headphones like crap, and headphone jacks even more horribly. The last time I had one actually break was on a PowerBook 145 (where I broke at least two or three headphone jacks). Even with massive abuse, I haven't broken one in any hardware built in the past twenty years.
On my first iPhone, I did have one instance where the jack thought headphones were plugged in when they weren't. That took a little bit of jiggling with a pair of headphones to resolve. But at no point have I ever seen a modern jack break. Not in my gear, not in gear belonging to anyone I know.
I have, however, seen Lightning plugs break off in the jacks. Not only will you lose your headphones when that happens, but also the ability to charge your phone. On the plus side, Apple is going to sell a LOT more AppleCare plans after people break their third or fourth Lightning jack. So my stock loves the idea....
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
...is some kind of foolproof answer to anything. My Android currently has a blutooth function that is hosed - does not pair with either the phone interface in my car's radio or the phone interface in my big GPS. When it does pair, then it drops out the next day. And, its like pulling teeth to get it to see my fitbit. Its toast. But neither of these functions are all that important. OTOH, if I couldn't use headphones with it 'cuz the blutooth is toast, that would be a repair or replacement bill. Replacing my HTC-1 with the new HTC-10 appears to be about a $699 expense due to the "$100 off" offer going around. Pricey damned thing. May have to drop around to one of those repair places that have sprung up and see what a new mobo would cost to have installed...
In no particular order:
That first one by itself is a showstopper for me. The rest just add more reasons to question the sanity of Apple's upper management. Not that I needed more reasons to question their sanity given that they're still trying to make the d**n things thinner even after they were forced to reengineer parts of the iPhone 6 Plus to fix bending problems....
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
that's the darkest wiki entry ever for a consumer electronics product. literally:
* reaction at launch
* criticism
* discontinuation
at the very least, they could link to what the reviewers said at the time it was released.
I get the anxiety over a change like this. There will be some pain involved in the transition, particularly if you have an analog headset you like. However, as USB-C audio gains traction it will work well.
Standards will mature so that any headset will work with any phone, car, computer, etc. Power consumption will come down. DRM won't be enforced in the headset. Charge through connectors will become common. In other words, as the market grows, things that piss people off will get fixed.
At the same time, more features will be available. High end headsets will have high end DACs built in with PAs that are tuned to the speakers in the headset. In addition to basic headsets, advanced headsets will be available with DSPs for programmability.
Also, the analog 3.5mm jack is no picnic. It has been extended ad-hoc over the years and phones never know what could be plugged in.
So relax, it will be alright. Even if the analog jack disappears completely, it will take a while.
I've had to find the "sweet spot" on an untold number of 3.5mm jacks.
Well... Your partners say you try to find it and give you an "A" for effort.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
In no particular order:
That first one by itself is a showstopper for me. The rest just add more reasons to question the sanity of Apple's upper management. Not that I needed more reasons to question their sanity given that they're still trying to make the d**n things thinner even after they were forced to reengineer parts of the iPhone 6 Plus to fix bending problems....
I've used about 10 BT headsets over the years. The best ones for latency of response are my LG HBS 730's (not the newer ones) and those were really good (100 milliseconds, no sound delay) However, I don't wear BT headphones because they strain my neck, fall off, or (in the case of those cheap Amazon eel-looking ones - simply didn't hold in my ear too well.
They're really convenient, but there's a reason I don't use them anymore (other than they wore out). I use Apple Earpods (don't buy those on Amazon either - too many knockoffs and AZ doesn't care if you get scammed) - they're essentially sweatproof, they stay in nicely, don't tangle, and are relatively cheap for decent sound quality ($30).
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
Probably the same size using vacuum transistors. http://www.extremetech.com/ext...
You are apparently unaware that, to date, the only phones which have shipped without headphone jacks are Android phones...
No, I'm very aware of that -- it's kinda the point of TFA. There are already devices with this design decision, and there seems to be no positive in it (for the consumer), it just saves the manufacturer a few cents a unit and makes locking music playback down easier. All the ways people could listen to music on their phone without using the 3.5mm headphone jack were available before the change, so removing the port only stands to remove that other option for the user. It adds zilch to the customer experience.
The issue here is, unlike the Android platform, the customer can't just say "Well, if Apple is going to get rid of the headphone jack on the next iPhone, I'll just get another manufacturer's iOS smartphone". That's why this is a bigger deal.
50 years ago, most everyone's headphone jacks were 1/4" (6.35mm), and only monaural. They introduced 3.5mm (still mono) way back when, but almost nobody was using them until much more recently. When stereo was needed, two 3.5mm jacks/pins were used side-by-side. It was only more recently that 3-connector stereo jacks were introduced.
They also shrunk it again to 2.5mm, which was popular on dumb phones and 2-way radios, but that one didn't catch on too well. But you can just as easily say that sub-mini plug has been around for decades, so we should all be happy to use that...
And they added a 4th conductor, most often for video (but possibly for a microphone), but nobody agreed to a standard so the wiring is always incompatible between devices, and that didn't catch on very well, either.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
To my dispointment, a number of my live sound colleagues have blown up iphones by plugging in via mini jack to XLR, and forgetting to switch of phantom power. They should know better, luckily they play dumb and tell Apple it just stopped working, and get replacements.
When it's thinner than 10mm it's just not really adding any value.
But I'd like to see a phone out of hard rubber that could bend and you could have in the back pocket without cracking the display.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
If you are looking for style you need to go for naked tube amplifiers.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Because not all audio equipment uses Bluetooth.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
...it's your own fault for buying more Crapple products. Let go of them, you'll be happier for it.
Apple makes Motorola products now?
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
From the Apple support pages themselves!
This is quite good.
However, while there is a lot of information about interference from Microwave ovens and WiFi, I could not find anything specifically about shipping or radar. Perusing information about the UHF band shows that two-way radio could be a source of interference, however most shipping uses VHF for ship-shore and ship-ship communication. The ISM band is the most likely cause of interference, however, again, I can't easily identify anything that would be used by regular commercial shipping.
Sorry, it's a useless post, can anyone else illuminate us?
Compared to even crappier phones by apple or microsoft then an android is pretty OK.
But I'm good as long as it's possible to make calls on the phone - or make an occasional text message.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
People were bashing for leaked rumor that Apple will have phone without headphone jack and all the Android fanboys went haywire and started bashing Apple. Guess what, all of Apple phones have 3.5 mm jacks but some Android phones do not. Where are those Android fanboys hiding?
Doesn't anyone understand that half of the consumer offer is (what I call) 'binaries' now? For a specific razor, there is a specific blade, printer and printer cartridge (preferably with phone-home and self-destruct for any third party supplier), coffee machine and specific coffee capsule. So basically, you buy the thing and then you buy the accessory until the thing wears out.
If people start making stuff according to universal standards, then things fit in other things and the sky will fall. I agree that this argument is weak when applied to headphones, but it's part of it. For example, once we have bluetooth only, let's encrypt the stream, so that only Apple headphones (or Whatever TM and licensed) work.
On y va, qui mal y pense!
The headphone jack interface is ancient. So is the Edison screw light bulb, but that fitting is still commonplace. Simply being old is not a good reason to abandon technology. The floppy drive was killed off not because it was old, but because superior alternatives were available. What is the superior alternative to the headphone jack? What else can offer the same convenience, low cost, universal compatibility, and reliability?
Apple should adopt the 2.5mm Blackberry (and one of the Nintendo products?) smaller headphone jack.
Start a trend, get it moving, I don't mind us all ditching 3.5mm over the next decade for a smaller, essentially identical jack if that's what's needed. Ditching it entirely though is stupid.
Also this ridiculous headphone standard (start / stop / vol up / vol down) needed to be bloody universal, the fact it wasn't is criminal.
To call that that "HiFi" would be the understatement of the year.
I bet Apple at least tried to get the trademark for HiFi around the same time this device was first announced.
And on the Eighth Day, Man created God.
I'd rather deal with wear than the new DRM possibilities that come with "digital" headphones/earbuds.
+1. I got a LeEco phone in part because it doesn't have a giant pointless dust-and-dirt ingress port in it any more. Never used headphones on a phone, never will, and on the remote chance that I needed it for some reason I'd plug in a USB-C to 3.5mm jack. Sheesh, if people are so attached to their vintage audio jacks, make sure you buy a phone that has one. It's not like you're being forced at gunpoint to buy a LeEco or Lenovo.
I have a Bluetooth headphone set that I bought years ago and the sound quality on that one was total crap. It didn't even seem to be the headphone set itself, but the bluetooth connection. The best way to describe the crappy sound would be that the devices were constantly adjusting the playback speed. It was like listening to a record on a cheap record player with a bad drive string.
That was the first and last time I used a bluetooth audio device.
And on the Eighth Day, Man created God.
Perhaps the Peter principle applies to bad ideas, as well as people. Perhaps a 'headphone-ports considered harmful' meme has arisen to its level of incompetence within Motorola. And it attempts to propagate itself every decade or so...
In 2006, I remember being bugged that my Motorola SLVR required a special USB headphone jack. Plus, you couldn't charge the phone and use the headset at the same time (say, for listening to music). Other people thought so too... from this phone's top rated Amazon review :
"CONS... No dedicated headphone jack ( form over function compromise)"
So the idea failed and Moto went back to headphone jacks.
Now its 2016. Bluetooth and Apple seem to have encouraged this meme to reemerge at Motorola. So we now have ... the Moto Z Force, with its innovative USB headphone port. And it appears you cannot charge the phone and use the headset at the same time. .
And also - If Apple has any claims that they are environmental-friendly, they can stuff that by now.
Adding a battery-pack to every headphone is frankly insane. Not only it's not environment friendly if you look at the materials used, but it also adds a extra energy usage that is completely unnecessary. So - It's more costly to the consumer, environment-unfriendly and user-unfriendly, adds nothing to the quality of the music, and is incompatible with the standards used in (sane) equipment.
Yeah - great move Apple.
The Apple II computer even had a 3.5mm audio out jack and Audio In jack. They should preserve the functionality in the iPhone so I can emulate an Apple II on it and connect it to a cassette player to load basic programs from tape.
Sure, Apple needs to innovate new features, but the alternative isn't worth the inconvenience.
I would be willing to sacrifice the standard headphone jack if the new phone would somehow manage to beam the audio directly into my brain (not just my ear canal - That could be tapped by unwanted listeners). It should also not require surgery. Now *THAT'S* Innovation!
Wouldn't baggy pants prevent the phone from cracking in the back pocket? Tight jeans will stress the screen a lot more.
And the lack of belt would have the added benefit that the back pocket is lower, thus not sitting on it when sitting down.
It seems to me baggy pants is actually good for having your phone in the back pocket.
But alas, I suspect you weren't trying to be funny at all.
- Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
You mean Monster Aether? Plugs into the wall like those room perfume thingies, and spreads complex organic molecules tuned to the specific BT frequencies, to help carry the signal and keep it coherent. Reduces noise in BT headsets and results in a more natural, warmer sound, and completely eliminates bit-flutter. Comes in pine & lavender or sweet jasmine. Only €49,99
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
The micro USB wear issue is largely because the port wasn't designed for regular use. The USB logo certification spec only requires 500 plug-unplug cycles. USB Type C spec requires 10,000.
That cheap? Surely it isn't a real monster product at that price.
A wired headphone doesn't require charging. It always just works. Hey wasn't there a marketing company with that slogan?
I don't think there are many people out there saying that removing a choice is actually good for consumers, no matter what the justification is for all the phones that have already been released, and the ones that are coming.
Problem is, people have to speak with their money, and I'm not sure they will.
I mean, if Apple released an iPhone 7 that demanded an obligatory rectal exam for usage, there would still be lines to buy it. That's the problem that has been plaguing the smartphone business lately. I'm not an Apple hater, but at some point, fandom turns against the capability of a company to really innovate and really design products with consumers in mind. It's financially great for companies to have a horde of mindless fans that will buy whatever you churn out while not understanding the changes that were done, but it's also very easy to see why they wouldn't bother to spend money in creating something unique anymore after a certain point.
I personally don't even use wired headphones anymore, but I still think this is problematic. At best, an awful decision to allow for something people don't really need (even thinner smartphones with paltry battery capacities to follow), and at worse, a move to force consumers to spend more on stuff they never asked for, like clunky adapters, headphones with proprietary cables or clunky bluetooth gear that needs pairing, inherently more unsecure and becoming just one more thing to charge and worry about.
Say what you will, but replacing microUSB to USB Type-C has advantages and is a move vouching for better standardization and more capabilities to come. Eliminating a regular audio port, even if lightning ports and USB Type-C ports did give a hugely improved audio quality (which they don't, not for the average consumer) is just bullshit. It's anti-consumer, no matter what shit justifications these companies are giving for the move. This is removing choice. Anyone who wanted either Bluetooth phones or "better quality" audio via USB Type-C or Lightining ports could still have it with the audio port still there. There's nothing to be gained. Removing audio ports also won't change devices price... there's probably nothing cheaper among components than an audio port. There's probably also nothing more universal than it.
Seems also to be a calculated move... I'll point fingers here, sue me. Why the heck wouldn't Moto Z phones include a goddamn headphone jack in any of their Moto Z Mods for instance? It just sounds like this is the new way these phone companies found out to screw us over to force us to spend more money. I wouldn't be surprised if at a later date we found out that several companies colluded to make this move to sell more overpriced headphones out there.
Added to all that, it's yet another port disappearing from devices. I understand that it's pretty great to have a standard that does it all, but if you keep taking ports out of devices, you end up with crap like the recent MacBook with it's obviously insufficient single USB Type-C port.
Now, you can push someone to buy and carry around a dongle just because you couldn't put a couple more ports on your laptop (still think it's stupid and a design flaw), but to force smartphone owners to carry extra dongles, some bulky case, or anything extra like that just so that people can do what they already could do with previous versions - like charging a smartphone while still listening to stuff with a regular headphone. That's just backwards.
It's like releasing an entire new TV line that is 3D only. No, you can't watch things in regular 2D anymore because 3D is the new thing. We have the 3D glasses for you at "discount" prices, but if you are really cool we have expensive ones to match your coolness. If you are a poor lameass though, you can buy a 2D dongle and keep living in the past.
It's not like smartphones are already plateauing with less and less people buying new models because the ones they already have are "good enough", amirite? They also needed to make them less attractive
And the jack hole is about 1 mm larger on all sides, so 3.5mm takes 5.5mm minimum. So any of the super-thin phones drop the headphone jack because it's to thick to include and hit the marketing goals.
at least with USB-C you can physically plug in something. I hate bluetooth because it's yet another item to keep charged. And without a cord, it's much easier to forget them and leave them somewhere. The looks of it are that the owner of the phone will need to keep a [lightning|USB-C] adapter appropriate for their phone around, and you can keep using your 3.5mm headphones forever. Though anyone who uses headphones on a computer and isn't an audiophile uses USB headphones because they are easier and generally higher quality than the obsolete 3.5 analog headphones.
Learn to love Alaska
The problem has always been, like every connector ever devised by humankind, "Good ones are good and cheap ones suck".
Many connectors, especially the modern ones designed to shave the price down compared to the older ones are better summarized as "the best ones suck and cheap ones suck really really hard".
Like, e.g. USB micro.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
My cars both have USB inputs into the audio system. You can USB into them, and not use 3.5mm jack or bluetooth.
Learn to love Alaska
To my dispointment, a number of my live sound colleagues have blown up iphones by plugging in via mini jack to XLR, and forgetting to switch of phantom power. They should know better, luckily they play dumb and tell Apple it just stopped working, and get replacements.
That should be the least of their worries. Plugging pre-amped headphone level output into mic level inputs isn't good for the mixer either. At least use a passive direct box that can match impedance and attenuate the signal. Better ones do re-amp, balun and 48V stripping, but even a $25 direct box is better than blowing your mackie/motu/whatever, and having to software gate a horribly clipped signal.
I think this is a symptom of technology slowing down. They can't make the phone go faster or have a better screen or have a new sensor, so they start doing crap like this. I think now we are at a point with computer technology where we were in 1970 with space technology. We have had decades of rapid progress and we think it will continue into the future indefinitely, but things are about to stagnate in a major way. There is no clear path forward for CPU technology from 14nm. Intel missed a technology generation, extreme ultraviolet lithography is not ready for prime time yet. PC sales are slowing down, phone makers aren't able to come out with anything new or exciting. Winter is coming.
ahem.
"You're holding it wrong."
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
Like, e.g. USB micro.
For sure. USB mini is far stronger mechanically, and for me, having a phone that's a millimeter thicker is a small price to pay for reliability.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
What do you need that newfangled stuff for? I have a Quad 33/303 setup.
Pah, whippersnappers!
Dynaco PAS-2/Stereo 70 FTW, baby!
Most devices made between 1980 and 2005 use really large mechanical 3.5mm jacks that are only secured by solder, so the problem you are describing is exactly that, where the solder joints have been cracked on the PCB jack mount itself.
And this could have been easily avoided by fastening the connector to the board with epoxy so that *it* absorbs the strain instead of the solder joints.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
To my dispointment, a number of my live sound colleagues have blown up iphones by plugging in via mini jack to XLR, and forgetting to switch of phantom power. They should know better, luckily they play dumb and tell Apple it just stopped working, and get replacements.
That should be the least of their worries. Plugging pre-amped headphone level output into mic level inputs isn't good for the mixer either. At least use a passive direct box that can match impedance and attenuate the signal. Better ones do re-amp, balun and 48V stripping, but even a $25 direct box is better than blowing your mackie/motu/whatever, and having to software gate a horribly clipped signal.
Fortunately, most mixers made after the 1950s have these magic devices called "Input Gain", which can match the sensitivity of the input channel to an extremely wide range of signal levels, including so-called "line levels". Portable device headphone outputs can almost always be adjusted to be well within this range. So, unless you ignore that red "clipping" indicator on your input-strip, signal level mismatch isn't a problem. And if you're sourcing from a phone, any impedance mismatch (which probably doesn't matter anyway) is not going to be the limiting factor as far as "fidelity".
As far as the phantom power goes, well, that's hardly the phone's fault, now is it? Don't use cheap boards with "global" phantom power!
Everyone hates all-caps.
NOT ME!
It's not as simple as to say that all 3.5mm jacks suffer the problems you described. The good ports cost a lot more and they won't put them where they're not thought to be under an active insert/remove cycle. For example many motherboards, even high-end ones, have shitty 3.5mm jacks because most people don't fiddle with the back-side connectors on a daily basis. You put your speakers or headphones in and they stay connected for even months at a time.
Then we have those good ports that last for ages. My '09 Sony Walkman has been in almost daily use since I bought it, and there's still no need to find 'sweet spots'. As a side not, I have to say the battery on that device has been amazing too as it hasn't degraded noticeably to this day.
-SR
If you don't like phones without a connector, just don't buy them and quit complaining like a little bitch.
I can't wait for the 3D audio and 4k audio upgrades that try to convince me to buy new headphones.
Looks like Apple is pulling a Sony, which is to release rumours about a controversial feature which mysteriously never appears after your competition have already copied you.
Sony did this with the Playstation 4, and the rumours saying that bought games would be locked to one console, which Microsoft dutifully followed causing a large backlash and sales hit
So despite all the rumours about the next iPhone lacking a headphone jack, I expect it will be there just like it always has been
Micro USB jacks wear out even more quickly. I wonder what the new connectors will be like. Everything is getting shittier.
And increasing their usage will decrease their lifetime.
I like my headphone jack near the top of the phone, not at the bottom where the usb port typically is. I also may want to listen while I am charging. I also don't like the extra bulk of BT headphones, nor the cost for what is often crappy audio quality.
Speakers only need 2 wires and you can add a third for a mic.
If you want stereo, you'll need three wires and four for a mic.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
I don't know if someone changed the wiki entry since last night, but there are links to reviews at the bottom of the article and above the notes.
You are welcome on my lawn.
..no, it 'wears out fast' FOR YOU. There are many, many people out there who never have a problem with it. You, I'll have to assume, and a relatively small percentage of people, are just not as careful with things as the rest are, and as a result, you break phone jacks. I'd also suspect you're one of those people for whom you have to replace headphones themselves every so often because you inadvertently rip the cables out of them. You just have to be more careful with things and mindful of how you're moving in relation to where the 'phones are plugged in. Or, perhaps, you'd be better off with Bluetooth stereo headphones. I understand the ones that support the latest Bluetooth specifications are pretty good-sounding.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
because Slashdot is now thirds or fort in line for witing comments, and the only plaice that doesn't offer the functionality.
I've never had a modern 3,5mm headphone port wear out.
I have. I listen to audiobooks while I work. I usually go through a pair of earbuds every month. (the wire breaks right at the connector) The newer aluminum edged phones are better but the old plastic edge phones the jack hole :) would inevitably stop working.
The point is USB type-C earbuds are over $40. I can't even imagine paying that much for something I'm going to throw away in three or four weeks, and I can't see that little USB connector holding up either.
once more into the breach
That's why I fitted my phone with an XLR socket.
It's sufficient to bear my own bodyweight.
You don't have to avoid new phones. There's good new phones out there, which have standard headphone jacks. Just not from stupid Apple.
The Galaxy S7 just came out, and it still has a headphone jack.
Here is how it's done. Step one: download the Audible app. Step two: listen to audiobooks at work all day every day while walking around and working. Step three: replace the headphones every three to four weeks due to the wire breaking inside the housing at the jack end. Step four: Suddenly realize that you have to hold the jack in a specific position for it to work...
I've done this to several phones. The jack comes out of the phone right at the bend in my leg while the phone is in my pants pocket. The Jack gets a crazy amount of torture. I've learned to try to find earbuds whose jack comes out and does an immediate 45 degree turn but they are surprisingly hard to find. One of those sets will usually last me several months as apposed to weeks.
I've tried bluetooth headsets, but the batteries are uncomfortable, they never last that long and the bluetooth sucks the battery life of my phone
once more into the breach
The head phone jack has been great. It did the trick. And for a lot of people if not most it still does. To change to another jack format is just stupid. It'll be excessively costly for consumers and frankly a waste.
I however have switched to wireless I use standard headphones with a bluetooth wireless receiver. And I love it. Why? Well my phone has become so much more than an audio device (phone,music,books). It's now my credit card, subway pass, door key etc. My phone is constantly being removed and put back into a pocket. The number of time my head phone wires have gotten caught on the odd thing here and there and caused my phone to go flying me to look like I have been yanked by the back of my head and have had my headphones ripped forcibly from my head are countless. All this stopped instantly once I went to a bluetooth receiver. I use the headphones I like and the controls for my audio and phone are now on the receiver. I don't even have to bring my phone out for audio tasks. They are so small I can place the receiver on my sleeve, in my pocket, clipped to my jeans where ever. I can move it around so that it doesn't get in the way of what I am doing.
And the best part is the receiver is only $25. I have a couple of them. One extra in the bag just in case the batteries die. But they rarely do.
So instead you want to break your power charging plug hole, the one you now generally use once per day and that with a fixed battery. So instead a potential proprietary socket, that will wear out, destroying the phone because no it connects to nothing and you can not pull out a flat battery and replace it with a charged battery. Yep, gullibly being sold another B$ marketing line. So with an existing ear socket phone you can listen through the usb socket with the right hardware and software but not fucking while you are charging the phone but that's OK you can swap out the battery and charge it separately, oh wait no you fucking can't.
Yep, this is what Apple buyers are happily signing up for.
Cars with BT audio usually also have USB ports. Does yours not?
My 2015 Mazda has BT audio as well, and a USB port. I've never used BT audio (though I do use BT for making phone calls through the hands-free system, and also for reading texts sometimes; the system will read them to me aloud). Instead, I just bought an inexpensive 32GB USB thumb drive, copied my whole music library onto it, and that was that.
No, I don't want to listen to streaming audio from the internet; I don't have unlimited data so that would be quite expensive.
So you've had the earbuds wear out, not the port. Agreed. Cheapo earbuds often have a weak point between their plug and their wires. Cheapo anythings for any sort of port usually do. ;)
Hourglass says she knows a kid in Iowa who grows up to be president.
I find that this quest for thinness is actually detrimental at this point: phones are so big and thin that they become more and more likely to get damaged from bending.
It would require a CRT screen...
Basically what happened is one "security researcher" who wasn't that good at the "research" part of his job upgraded a system to Vista and had audio issues. He then wrote a blog piece about how Vista sucked and theorized that it was DRM causing issues. This got echo-chambered over the Internet tons and because "Vista's DRM won't let you have good audio."
It amused me since, when I read it, I had Cakewalk Sonar loaded in the background and was working with pro audio at the time, in Vista, no issues at all.
What had really happened is his system had a old, low end, integrated soundcard. The manufacturer provided poor quality Vista drivers that didn't work well in full duplex (recording and playing back) mode. So if you were using the mic and output, sound quality was degraded. This was a function of the sound chip and its drivers, not Vista. It was, and is, fully capable of doing 24-bit 192kHz or greater multi-channel audio in and out, as are subsequent versions of Windows.
The DRM that showed up in Vista related to audio is "protected audio path" and is only relevant to shit like Blu-ray playback. The media industry won't give out licenses to AACS and BD-J unless the whole setup it DRM'd including the drivers. So Vista added this capability (and subsequent Windows versions keep it). A program can say "I am playing DRM'd content, you need to protect this" and the driver will then make sure that screenshots/recording can't happen, that it only plays on HDCP enabled outputs and shit like that. However normally all that is turned off and it affects nothing if you don't use it. While it is silly, it was either implement it, or Windows would never be able to (legally) play Blu-rays.
I'd rather a dodgy headphone socket than a dodgy USB socket. Headphone sockets could easily be made to never fail due to coming off the motherboard, dry joints etc. I've no interest in Bluetooth headphones because of the cost and need to manage the battery and because I have no other devices they would work with.
It isn't like all phones are doing this. In fact, usually if some companies start doing something stupid and not giving people what they want, someone else will make and advertise products with those features.
For example I'm not a fan of the "no removable battery, no SD card" trend. Lots of phones have gone that way in the name of thin... however LG apparently figures there's a market for people who want those features and the LG G5 has them. So guess what phone I've ordered?
It really isn't that difficult a problem, unless you are a fanboy who is overly dedicated to a given product. If you don't mind a feature going away, ok no problem, buy the new unit and be happy. If you do mind, go and buy another product that has what you want.
However what I can't respect and get annoyed with are fanboys who will cry about something like this, and then go and buy the product anyways, acting like this had no choice in the matter and they "had" to upgrade. They are the problem.
My objection is that bluetooth headsets just suck. At least, I've never found a set at any price point that is good enough to use for listening to music.
" It wears out ridiculously fast."
Which is why all of the 3.5mm jacks on my mixer boards, ISA-based sound cards, and old CD players are STILL 100% functional, despite being older than a decade for every one of them?
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
"USB Type C spec requires 10,000."
That means precisely jack shit when manufacturers use cheap-ass solder that can't withstand any sort of shear stresses. I've already destroyed two USB Type-C ports due to this.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Troll? Seriously?
This is why slashdot is becoming useless. It has nothing to do with ownership.
1966 HH Scott Stereomaster w/ Klipsch horns.
C|N>K
I would rather have a thicker phone with more battery life than a thin phone anyway. You know what they call a thin phone? Broken.
You see it all the time with fanboys of a given brand. When that brand does something stupid or something they don't like, they have to rationalize it away how it isn't just not bad, but is actually a GOOD thing. That way, they can continue to be a fan and needn't reevaluate their position, which is important since being a fan of a brand often means having your ego tied up in the success of that brand.
You see it a lot with Apple fans since Apple is known for changing things on a whim with no warning or input.
Doesn't even have to be changes either, fans will do it when something is just disappointing. I saw a funny one with one of our former students who was a total Apple fanboy. The iPad 2 was coming out and he'd really hyped himself up for it. I told him that some of the things he was hyped for (like a high DPI display) weren't going to happen, tech just wasn't there yet. So it launched and was underwhelming to him at least. It was just a bit of an update to the old one. Now I don't see an issue with that, makes sense to refresh your products with the latest tech, even if the refresh is just minor. Just means that they are more for new customers than people upgrading. However he was very let down.
But then, over the course of about 5-10 minutes, he managed to find all kinds of rather stretched reasons as to why it was better and he had to have one, and then placed an order. It went from "I am disappointed," to "I must have this ASAP," in the course of just a few minutes. Nothing changed, no new information, he just rationalized the decision he'd already held: That he wanted a new toy from the brand he was a fan of.
Ya unless Apple makes really shitty connectors on their products, I'm failing to see how this isn't a case of user error (or someone making shit up). I can't think of the last time I've seen a 3.5mm TRS plug fail. I make a lot of use of them between my personal devices for listening to music and connecting computers to capture/presentation setups at work. I really honestly can't remember when I last experienced one fail on me. I'm not saying it never happens, but it is rare enough that it isn't even a problem I consider. They are quite reliable, in no small part because they are dead fucking simple.
If a phone is too thin to have a headphone jack, then it's too thin. I'm annoyed by the trend of making phones so thin to the point where it compromises structural strength (remember BendGate?), isn't thick enough for the camera lens (iPhone 6/6S), and requires dropping standard ports. Allow another millimeter or two and use the extra space for a better battery!
Bluetooth can work fine if you don't use something a lot, but headphones are the kind of thing you may wish to use for extended periods. I've never seen a BT device that isn't massive that has any staying power. Like I have a Plantronics Voyager Legend. This is a new, high end, and fairly large ear piece. It curves over your ear and has a unit that sits behind with electronics and a sizable battery in it. For all that, it is lucky to get maybe 6 hours of talk time fully charged (which will only get worse as the battery ages). Less if you use the high quality audio mode.
That's not great, and that is for a bigass part. You take something small, like the Earin phones one of our students has, and it is a bit over an hour if you are lucky. On the other hand my little Shure earbuds will work as long as the device feeding them will. Despite the cord, they are actually no larger to carry than the Plantronics earpeice as well. Oh, and they work with my computer, my phone, my receiver, and so on with no fiddling, just plug and go.
I don't hate BT audio devices, but earbuds have good reasons to exist.
I'm thinking Pip-boy.
You are welcome on my lawn.
The problem with CRTs is they start to burn in after just TWO WEEKS
You can't spell "oneiromancy" without "roman".
That cheap? Surely it isn't a real monster product at that price.
Just like a printer, they get you on the refill cartridges.
By the time floppy drives stopped being standard on computers, not only was alternative and superior technology available, but it was so ubiquitous that including the obsoleted technology served no purpose for most people.
While you can certainly argue that alternative and possibly even superior technologies are available for the headphone jack, they are not so universally used that the headphone jack has already largely fallen out of disuse, as the floppy drive had by the time they had decided to replace it. Maybe that time will come, but we are not there yet.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Slashdot, oh Slashdot, why can we still not edit our posts?
I've been asking for this since forever. Every fucking blog, forum, and comment-enabled site on the internet has this functionality. Even Yahoo allows you to delete or edit your comments. But it's just too fucking tricky to implement this at Slashdot I suppose.
Now, cue the fucking wankers who'll piss their pants yelling about how that would permit comments to "be taken out of context" or snivel about "proofreading your writing" or "that's what the preview button is for". Like those shitbags have never made a mistake in their lives or ever needed to go back and edit something.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
MicroUSB was designed for 10,000 cycles, the same as Type-C. You might be thinking of MiniUSB, but even that was for 5000 cycles, not 500. Standard A/B was designed for 1500 cycles.
Music at http://www.ignorantbliss.co.uk/
Many jacks wear out because the standard audio jack has a moving part - a mechanical switch that allows the device to detect that a jack is plugged in so that the device can "know" to use the headphones for audio output instead of the speakers. This mechanical switch easily could be replaced with an optical sensor that detects when something is plugged into the jack without getting rid of the jack entirely.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Just because they want a kickback from the MPAA and RIAA, doesn't mean that you have to buy it.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
Not even. The last number I saw was about 2% for an iPhone. Compared to something like 20% through making the entire phone either 1mm or 2mm thicker.
Apple being Apple, it wouldn't surprise me if they remove the headphone jack, increase the thickness of the phone a smidgen, and claim the "innovative" decision to remove the jack led to a 10% increase in battery size.
Log in or piss off.
The port wore out on my galaxy s3 and then on my nexus 4. On both those phones it was about a year and a half before the jack started cutting in and out no matter what earbuds I used. The all metal frame on my note 4 has actually been holding up very well. I think it was just the plastic frame wearing and allowing to much movement over time breaking the solder connection.
once more into the breach
I don't know who modded this up but it is wrong.
The Micro-USB jack was designed for the same amount of cycles as the the USB-C port. The MINI-USB jack was not designed for so many plug cycles, and even that was larger than 500. Furthermore the Micro-USB jack was designed such that the failure point is the cable end, not in the jack itself.
The micro-USB wear issue is due to cheap and nasty connectors combined with poor integration, nothing more nothing less. There's a world of difference in quality out there and the good connectors rarely if ever have an issue.
You either have to twist the plug to the perfect angle or apply pressure on the correct side, or else you get no sound or severely diminished sound
Is anyone else really impressed that BabyDuck is able to change the pressure exerted on side contacts by rotating a round plug within a round socket?
I mean I know that post was mostly garbage, but there seems to be a whole new type of physics invented in it.
Why can't the iPhone be twice as thick and have a headphone jack and better battery life? At some point we will be walking around with phones as thin as a black widow's silk.
BlueTooth might be standard on anything build in the last 3 or 4 years, but it doesn't help with backward compatibility with older devices.
Neither of my cars support BlueTooth audio, for example, so I'm using the 3.5 headphone jack on my iPhone daily to play podcasts in the car. If I get a new phone, now I'm going to need a pair of Lightning to 3.5 audio jack dongles. Knowing Apple, they'll charge $24.95 for them, and they'll incorporate some kind of DRM to slow down third party copies of the adapter.
Salute from their knees or a wheel chair to reach the light switch?
Exactly how is using a USB device easier then a simple plug?
Ask two people how a car is easier than a horse. One person from 1898, and one person from 1998.
USB is easier because it's universal. You have more options on location and presentation of the jack.
They have no drawbacks either, except for adding a few cents to the cost of the slave labor that makes your phone,
Space, weight, cost, and fragile. You missed some of the drawbacks of jacks. Also, re-read with the definition of "obsolete" being "old-fashioned". You might find that if your vocabulary is good, other people are easier to understand.
Learn to love Alaska
This is plain wrong. Micro-usb was designed for 10,000 cycles.
That's even in the overview section on the USB wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Overview, which links to the relevant USB-IF docs from 2007, so it's baffling that this got voted +5 Informative.
Found the Apple fanboy. Also, hateful and bigoted? Pot, meet kettle. Go back to playing pokemon in traffic.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
Lets see
People complained about electronic locks when a mechanical key would do fine
DOS users complained about how the mouse was for simpletons
Then complained about trackpads replacing mice,
Records replaced by tapes, then DVDS, then by streaming
ATMs replaced tellers, then went online
RFIDs replaced bar codes which had replaced stamping a price on each retail item
Credit cards replaced checks, and are replaced by electronic wallets
Copper wire based phones were replaced by cellular and Internet based phones
Add your 20-30 favorites implementations here.
All in the last 50 years since the simple audio jack came out.
How about instead of whining and complaining about technologies and products you don’t like or want, you just but something else.
Spend your electrons elsewhere.
Apple and Google (et al) experiment on technologies, glasses, social networks, chips, screens, VR, cloud stores, Lightning, Thunderbolt and USB-C connectors, Bluetooth and NFC. That’s why they are in business and you are all pundit wannabes.
Get over yourselves.
I agree with you on the Micro-USB ports. They are total crap. Don't know how many broken ones I've been asked to repair on people's tablets and phones.
So you won't even be able to listen to music when you are charging your phone, or when you want to plug your phone to an external speaker, this idea stinks and is really bad news, I definitely will never buy such a device.
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. We have a winner, folks.
Oh, I'm sure there are worse. Cuecat is a decent example:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
Do you have ESP?
Holy fuck man. I might disagree with you on a lot of shit, but at least I can laugh with you about this.
[quote]Cable Elevators are a classic audiophile upgrade which will work on any surface from carpet to concrete. By moving cables away from surrounding surfaces the negative dielectric field interaction is completely removed, preserving the delicate audio signal's purity. [/quote]
I've been doing it wrong. I should just make some cheap 3D printed versions, apply some chrome spray paint and undercut them on E-bay.
there smartphones still have removable batterys and 3.5mm jacks lol.
You mean Monster Aether? Plugs into the wall like those room perfume thingies, and spreads complex organic molecules tuned to the specific BT frequencies, to help carry the signal and keep it coherent.
Shut up shut up shut up they might hear you. And then there will be a product. Gawd...
You're like the guy who said he didn't know it was loaded...
TIL arglebargle_xiv is everybody, and nobody uses an Apple device.
So your one of those guys who has a phone holster on his belt? You do know that's only slightly less fashionable then a fanny pack don't you?
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Micro USB jacks wear out even more quickly. I wonder what the new connectors will be like. Everything is getting shittier.
This is a feature, not a bug.
Apple, et al. are starting to require new ways to make people "need" a new phone every year. Sales are flattening because the smartphone craze is over, everyone who wants one has one. Beyond this software and hardware releases are becoming more steady and aren't the huge leaps they were in previous years. So making the hardware crappier and adding in features that can force obsolescence is now the preferred way of generating sales.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Agreed. Alternatives need to mature more before being used as primaries. Weird USB connectors aside, Bluetooth or something akin to it needs to simply work better. Also things need to get much less expensive. You can buy some 5$ earbuds and use a 3.5mm jack and reasonably expect it to work (sound quality aside).
I don't have an electrical outlet on my back deck, so I have tried a number of portable wireless devices for music as an alternative. If you read the box of any product with Bluetooth, it will list the "official" specifications. They state that there will be a range of 33 feet or 10 meters. I've yet to see ANY working device actually achieve that specification. I've tried "cheap" 70$ devices that literally had a range of a few inches. You had to have your phone sitting right beside it, which is ironic because the devices would also have a 3.5mm aux port also which you could use wired at a even greater distance. At that range it would even be useless with headphones and your phone in your pocket unless you taped it to your head. My current device is actually pretty good, but I had to pay a couple of hundred dollars for it, and even it doesn't max out the specification distance, and will have significant sound issues (cutting out and noise), as you approach it's own max distance. Mind you that would be sufficient for personal use for headphones, but again you are paying significantly for it.
So before they go pretty much totally wireless they really need to mature and refine the technology first as otherwise you will have a more expensive less useful product that is only going to frustrate users. Pairing can also be frustrating, and in many cases the technology is pretty rudimentary in actually functionality, which could be a software thing, but may have to do with the actual standards themselves needing some work. As mentioned I have a bunch of Bluetooth devices, some work better than others... Who knows perhaps Apple will implement a really good design, I just know my current experiance has been wildly inconsistent.
Belts only work if your hips are larger than your waist. A good alternative would go over your shoulder and through your crotch. Very positive pants retention and ability to carry heavy items.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
I accidentally put mine down sideways last week and it became invisible for two days until the wind blew it over.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
I write all lower case and let the keyboard capitalize what it wants.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Best advice I ever got from salesman at good audio store when I was looking for decent phono plugs: just solder the cables in. For the frequency of connecting and disconnecting, the fact that my iron was usually hot anyway, and the freedom from connector hassles it was optimal.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Yeah;how does one connect to power and phones simultaneously?
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
I'm just going to install Bluetooth into my auditory nerves.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
As traditional as I tend to be regarding technology, I'm going to spend a few minutes singing USB's praises.
Wherever I go, I can find several different ways to charge my phone. I can buy a device to charge my phone at any gas station. I can piggy back on a random person's power bank. Most people own at least one nowadays. I can go into any restaurant and if I ask politely, I can probably get access to a free USB port. Many restaurants just have them for customers. Even basic motels costing $40/night offer USB charging. All computers have USB ports, with few exceptions. Nearly all cars made today have them. Every power strip at my employer has at least two USB ports. USB has fulfilled its promise of being universal. I remember quite clearly when charging your phone was an ordeal. That wasn't very long ago.
All external hard drives are now interchangeable. If you have a hard drive with data on it, you can share it with anybody, or you can plug it into most routers. Does anybody remember the bad old days before there was a standard for external hard drives? I do.
What I've seen recently is a further development in USB. Most small-to-medium sized electronics devices are beginning to either be powered by USB or offer USB charging, or both. The devices with USB are often cheaper than their counterparts, because the manufacturer can use cheaper, off-the-shelf components. Even my solar-chargeable camping lantern has a USB charging port, though I can't imagine ever needing it.
The idea here is that it is possible that in addition to all of the above uses of USB, we could eventually add all new headphones to the mix. They're going to be more expensive at first, but it won't be too long before Chinese manufacturers figure out how to make them for a couple of dollars. I do realize that the Type C connector has a different shape, but we're already accustomed to transitioning USB equipment. There is still a small amount of mini-USB equipment but the transition is nearly done. We'll have to do another one, and hopefully it will work out for the best.
I'll be waiting for equipment to start adopting Type C more commonly. I have no desire to be an early adopter, but I feel like this new style of headphones could work.
For what value of "ridiculously"? I don't have a single 3.5 mm jack in the house with bad connection poltergeists.
But then, I'm still running an NAD 7140 from the 1980s as my stereo amplifier. Had to go in there last week with electrical contact cleaner to take the crackle out of the volume and balance pots, but I'm sure the audio jack still works perfectly. I'd have replaced some of the electrolytics, too, if my ears could hear any defects.
Obviously, though, I'm not a desirable Apple customer on several counts (ability to fix things myself, willingness to keep using unfashionable equipment that still works fine, ability to tell whether unfashionable equipment still works fine), so there is that.
Yamaha M4 here, with a Parasound PHP 850 in front of it. Long live the affordable analog!
Other than leaving out the cost, weight, size, and fragility. Other than that, yes, no reason to leave it out.
Learn to love Alaska
So, AC, where were you when serial ports were no longer on the newest models? You're either too young to remember (in which case, grow a pair, log in and learn to do your own research, worm) or purposefully forgetting the apple bashing fests of yore where haters were predicting that Apple would burn in flames for removing the holy serial port.
The histrionics are on the part of those claiming that the sky is falling because some phones will no longer have a mini-jack.
Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
If Apple has a better idea than a headphone jack, I'd be all about it. Do they? I doubt it. Demonstrate some actual function improvement or GTFO. Simply swapping the analog for the digital is incredibly annoying, not only because the interfaces might not be compatible, but also because now I have to worry about the quality of the DAC as well as the speakers if I want good sound. It is a problem multiplier.
"I vehemently disagree about the praise for the 3.5mm headphone jack. The same problems it had in the '80s are still with us today. It wears out ridiculously fast. I've had to find the "sweet spot" on an untold number of 3.5mm jacks. You either have to twist the plug to the perfect angle or apply pressure on the correct side, or else you get no sound or severely diminished sound. Plugs that can do both audio and a microphone seem to suffer this fate even faster."
Try cleaning the socket. And if you habitually keep a device in a lint filled pocket; consider getting one of the headphone hole covers so popular in several Asian countries. Plain or bling, the covers also keep moisture out if you use your phone out in the weather. Unless you allow the contacts to get dirty or corroded; you won't have a problem with a headphone jack.
NRRPT/RCT
Get some shirts with pockets. Hard to crack a phone in a shirt pocket unless you do a face plant trying to qualify for Jackass air time.
NRRPT/RCT
If that is true, then it is true because it is the jack that you use far more often than any other type of jack.
Not so. I plug in my phone and (back before the headphone jack broke) my tablet to charge about twice a day. On the other hand, I only plug in my headphones maybe twice a week.
Oh man, I would definitely carry a tube smartphone.
This is probably the closest you are going to get today: Woo Audio WA8
Today I learned that portable vacuum tube amplification exists. Holy cow that's gotta be a bit insane.
When something is used by the majority of people its not "legacy". Are the tires on a car a legacy feature?
Full rubber on a wooden rim? Yeah, pretty much.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
You don't have to avoid new phones. There's good new phones out there, which have standard headphone jacks. Just not from stupid Apple.
The Galaxy S7 just came out, and it still has a headphone jack.
Are you some kind of paid shill, or just a plain normal moron? Which Apple phones don't have a standard headphone jack?
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
You clearly have yet to see the IT Crowd.
Headphones I plug into my iPhone work in an Android phone...
Except that Apple decided a long time ago to swap the mic & ground pins on the 4-pin headphone jack and break that compatibility. Now you have to buy Android or Apple headphones which have volume and play/pause buttons on them. Because Apple couldn't possibly have a connector that is actually standard. That'd break their business model of "give me your money".