They increase the bulk, they decrease reliability and repairability, they get lost, and they are an additional expense.
None of those things are an enormous issue, but they do mean that dongles are a bit of a pain in the ass.
If the phone had some sort of advantage that made the loss of the jack a decent trade-off, a dongle would be something I could roll with. But these phones don't, so it still presents a loss with no compensating gain.
No need to stock up. Older used smartphones will be on the market for a very, very long time. There's a store 500 yards away from me right now that does nothing but sell such phones.
Can one enable BT but not enable cell? If so it is not straightforward.
Yes, you can, and it's straightforward on every phone that I've ever used. There are separate controls to enable/disable each of the radios (cell/WiFi/BT), so you can mix and match.
a move that would likely push rest of the smartphone makers to adopt a similar change
Not the ones that I'll be buying from, until there is an alternative to the wire that is at least as good.
If that means I'm buying a older model, so be it. It probably won't, though. My
prediction is that there will be high-end smartphones with headphone jacks for a few years yet. There will probably be at least one remaining manufacturer that will be happy to take the money from people Apple and Google have decided are no longer important to them.
The failure here is that the UI is not being clear. I think people are overreacting to this a bit, but it is understandable given that it's an Apple UI, and Apple's reputation with user interfaces is that they are designed to be very clear.
I'm not saying this makes everything better, as the user would still have to know what the visual cue's mean. But to say that the UI fails to communicate this is not true.
"Communication" is different from "signalling". "Communication" requires understanding on the part of the recipient, or it's not communication.
If it isn't clear to the user what the color-coding means, then the UI is failing to communicate to the user.
Complain every time. Let them know how poor the drivers are.
That's probably the right thing to do, but personally, I really hate making such complaints. I only do it if it's impossible to avoid using the offending company.
I hope this doesn't mean they'll stop using the US Postal Service. I'm rarely home during delivery hours, and I strongly prefer shipping via USPS because they'll put the packages in the streetside lockbox rather than leaving them on my doorstep.
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They increase the bulk, they decrease reliability and repairability, they get lost, and they are an additional expense.
None of those things are an enormous issue, but they do mean that dongles are a bit of a pain in the ass.
If the phone had some sort of advantage that made the loss of the jack a decent trade-off, a dongle would be something I could roll with. But these phones don't, so it still presents a loss with no compensating gain.
I doubt it, but I wasn't really commenting on AAC. I was just surprised at seeing Beats mentioned as being something superior.
In the end, the pickier users can get the USB-C/lightning adapter and move on with life
Dongles really suck, though, so their existence changes nothing for me.
Put the phone in airplane mode, then reenable bluetooth, and you're good to go.
I honestly can't decipher what you're saying here.
No need to stock up. Older used smartphones will be on the market for a very, very long time. There's a store 500 yards away from me right now that does nothing but sell such phones.
This, too.
My main complaint with Bluetooth is audio quality. My second (but still huge) complaint is the whole charging problem.
Can one enable BT but not enable cell? If so it is not straightforward.
Yes, you can, and it's straightforward on every phone that I've ever used. There are separate controls to enable/disable each of the radios (cell/WiFi/BT), so you can mix and match.
Modern-day ICQ is nothing like the original ICQ. That's why their current user base is 10% of what it used to be.
I miss the old ICQ.
(and Beats, and some other Mfgs) BT earbuds/headphones are superior
Beats? Superior??
Beats is downright terrible. They're one of, if not the, worst-sounding in their price range.
Does it?
Yes.
The audio sounds fine.
I'm glad it's fine for you. For me, it's far from fine.
a move that would likely push rest of the smartphone makers to adopt a similar change
Not the ones that I'll be buying from, until there is an alternative to the wire that is at least as good.
If that means I'm buying a older model, so be it. It probably won't, though. My
prediction is that there will be high-end smartphones with headphone jacks for a few years yet. There will probably be at least one remaining manufacturer that will be happy to take the money from people Apple and Google have decided are no longer important to them.
I remember ICQ
I miss ICQ.
And Apple did. But I'm talking about the end user, not the vendor.
Yeah, that's a good point.
The failure here is that the UI is not being clear. I think people are overreacting to this a bit, but it is understandable given that it's an Apple UI, and Apple's reputation with user interfaces is that they are designed to be very clear.
I honestly thought it had died years ago.
Are you seriously going to thrash Apple, when Google has been letting Android and its apps use you like a bitch for the past decade?
Why not?
If you're doing something wrong, whether or not others are just as bad or worse in no way excuses your actions.
I'm not saying this makes everything better, as the user would still have to know what the visual cue's mean. But to say that the UI fails to communicate this is not true.
"Communication" is different from "signalling". "Communication" requires understanding on the part of the recipient, or it's not communication.
If it isn't clear to the user what the color-coding means, then the UI is failing to communicate to the user.
This seesawing by Democrats and Republicans, based solely on who promotes any given idea, had gotten tiresome to me 30 years ago.
100% this.
How are we going to be able to afford it after the administration is done ruining the economy and making everyone poorer?
I have been seriously loving delivery by USPS. Nobody else even comes close.
Screw pickup locations. One of the great things about ordering online is that the stuff gets delivered to you.
Complain every time. Let them know how poor the drivers are.
That's probably the right thing to do, but personally, I really hate making such complaints. I only do it if it's impossible to avoid using the offending company.
I hope this doesn't mean they'll stop using the US Postal Service. I'm rarely home during delivery hours, and I strongly prefer shipping via USPS because they'll put the packages in the streetside lockbox rather than leaving them on my doorstep.
It is that technology ultimately does not help everyone and really contributes to the wealthy elite more than anything.
Wha?
Technology is what transforms science into something practical that benefits real people. Mostly, it has benefited everybody. Some examples:
Food production (beyond simply gathering) ... etc.
Clothing
Shelter (beyond huddling in caves)
Writing
All of that is technology.
Just because there are specific technologies that primarily benefit a few doesn't tarnish the entire spectrum that is "technology".