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Sorry, Apple, the Headphone Jack Isn't Going Anywhere (yahoo.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Rob Pegoraro via Yahoo Finance: Two things unite almost every phone on display here at Mobile World Congress 2017: Android and a headphone jack. Apple doesn't exhibit its wares at this trade show, so the domination of Google's operating system is predictable. But the headphone jack's persistence did not look so inevitable when Apple cut it from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus last September. Lenovo's Motorola subsidiary had already shipped a phone without a headphone hack, the Moto Z, and Apple's influence over the rest of the smartphone industry remains formidable -- indeed, within months, the Chinese firm LeEco had debuted a lineup of Android phones devoid of headphone jacks. As my colleague David Pogue predicted in a post approving Apple's move: "Other brands worldwide will be following suit." The hardware on display here at the world's largest mobile tech conference, though, suggests otherwise. Two days of walking around the show floor showed companies expressing a consistent unwillingness to abandon the humble headphone jack, even on models as thin as, or thinner than, the iPhone 7. The MWC floor revealed only one company willing to do away with the headphone jack: HTC. The Taiwan-based firm, which has struggled financially for years despite shipping such well-reviewed models as the HTC 10, used its exhibit to showcase the U Ultra and the U Play, which rely on their USB-C ports for audio output. Unlike, Apple, though, the company didn't make the move to save space, but rather to incorporate its "USonic" feature, which lets the phones' headphones calibrate themselves to your ears and provide noise cancellation.
"Unlike, Apple, though, the company didn't make the move to save space, but rather to incorporate its "USonic" feature, which lets the [USB] phones' headphones calibrate themselves to your ears and provide noise cancellation."
Oh, bullshit. There's no reason the headphone jack has to be removed to support that. They're not mutually exclusive.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Does anyone honestly think that Apple cares whether other companies drop the headphone jack on their phones?
They want to "close" this analog hole just as much as the last one. No, "smaller phone OMG!?!?!?!" is not a good reason anymore. These days the damn things are so small, that if you want it to survive daily use, you need a clamshell that's typically 2x bigger than the phone itself to put the phone in. I'd argue that most phones are too small already. Waterproofing it, can also be done if the money is shelled out for it, and wasn't one of the selling points of buying an iPhone the whole: "I'm so rich, I can afford to wear this bling! Be jealous." thing? They could up the damn price for that, and then some by saying the extra costs are for protecting the consumer's investment.
This has nothing to do with "better phone" it's all about control.
Two days of walking around the show floor showed companies expressing a consistent unwillingness to abandon the humble headphone jack, even on models as thin as, or thinner than, the iPhone 7.
PCs held on to Dsub parallel and serial ports and PS/2 ports and floppy drives for many years after Apple kicked them to the curb. Blackberry kept making physical keyboards long after the market proved that most buyers don't care about them. Just because everyone else didn't follow Apple one year later doesn't really tell us much. It's going to take a few years for this to really play out. The other handset makers are going to be watching. If Apple sales remain strong you can bet that more of them will follow Apple's lead over time. No one should be surprised that there wasn't a stampede of removing the headphone jack in just one year.
If you want full rollover support on your keyboard you need PS/2, USB will only allow 6 key rollover. This is an actual feature some people care about (mostly those who buy mechanical keyboards).
You really think that the headphone jack is the culprit in Apple's market loss? It's been 3 times they changed the freakin docking connector on their phone and other iShit. Those who did not understand when they went from 30pin to lightning connector will maybe understand this time, when they once again have to change all the audio / charging docks on which they paid the Apple premium (especially now that Apple has a trick to exclude non-Apple-royalty-paying builders).
You think Apple is switching to USB-C to open to the rest of the World? Think again. They will certainly lock you once again in their fenced garden of Apple-approved stuff.
This is the exact argument that I'm sure someone at Apple made -- and the exact argument that shows that some people just don't get it.
Headphones are not SCSI hard drives. Headphones are not PS/2 mice. One of my favorite pairs of headphones was purchased around the same year I once bought a SCSI card (1996), and I still use them today.
They're an item which is very personal. You don't wear a hard drive. You WEAR headphones. On walks to class or work, riding the subway, on transcontinental flights, lying in bed late at night. They may be pressed up against or even inside your ears for hours each day. When someone who uses headphones a lot finds a pair that they love, it's a bond that is not easily broken. And certainly not for something new that will either 1. easily get lost, 2. require recharging at some inconvenient time or 3. die a slow death as their rechargeable batteries wear out.
Apple was the brand for many musicians and music producers. Taking away the audio jack was another big "fuck you" to that following who were long some of Apple's most ardent supporters.
www.gaiageek.com
USB keyboards can support full rollover in HID "report protocol". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...