Over the decades, I've had exactly one socket go bad.
So then if the dongle is more reliable at the USB-C side, and you don't view the socket-side as problematic, I think it'll be fine. The failure will still be on the headphones side.
Also, as my current phone amply demonstrates, you can have a super thin phone and an audio jack, so thinness isn't an advantage to removing it.
Surely, though, you recognize that an extra jack and the associated space can be used to improve the phone in some other way? More battery space or lower total volume are obvious, but there are probably other tradeoffs you could make instead. Better speakers, cocaine storage, whatever. If you are marketing a phone for the masses, you need to go with what matters most to the masses. With some luck, there will always be manufacturers producing a model that fills the niche you occupy. So far, you are doing alright as only a few phones lack earphone jacks. Eventually most earphones will come with Bluetooth and/or a bulit-in USB-C port and it'll be a moot point. I'm sure people groused about the 1/8" jack when it was introduced as well.
I'm going to dismiss that, as people who care about the sound that much have some pretty bulky headphones.
they decrease reliability and repairability,
I don't know if I can agree with this, either. 1/8" headphone connections are pretty darned unreliable. Probably 99% of my headphones have developed a problem at the plug. Sometimes I fix it (my Sennheisers) - but more often they get tossed in the garbage. I've also had to repair multiple 1/8" jacks - including one on a phone. I've had micro USB cords go bad, too - but never a jack. I don't know how USB-C will fare, but I'd bet that it's better than a 1/8" headphone connection.
they get lost
Oh, come on!:)
additional expense.
True, but insignificant compared to the headphones an audiophile is likely to have. (Not to mention the $600+ phone!)
dongles are a bit of a pain in the ass.
Yes, they are definitely an additional step that audiophiles did not previously need to take - so I can understand the derision. But at the end of the day you'll just plug it in (likely after obsessing over getting just the right one) and carry on.
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
They don't offer YOU an advantage, but you are in the very tiny overlapping Venn circles that I was referring to. The vast majority of the buying public will chose the thin phone over the one with the legacy jack.
I'm glad it's fine for you. For me, it's far from fine.
I agree that you can hear the difference between BlueTooth and wired. I think most people could in a decent listening environment. The thing is that the Venn Diagram has a very tiny intersection point at "People who care", "People who listen to high-quality recordings on their phone", and "People who use their phone to listen to music in conditions approaching anywhere near an ideal".
When the marketing department sees the throngs of people salivating over ooooo... skinny! vs the handful of people complaining about DACs and jacks - well, they make their choice.
In the end, the pickier users can get the USB-C/lightning adapter and move on with life - so long as their battery is nice and fresh!
Yeah, I can see Google would be unhappy about that. Though if they were clever about it they could develop a platform where people could earn coins for watching ads and plug in to the infrastructure. Maybe they've gotten too big for such risky innovation. They were very disruptive, but now need to fight the disruption...
It's actually the richest, if memory serves. I believe Puerto Rico is actually the most competitive country in all of Latin America, but I don't remember how this is measured.
I'd like to see a system where I can let the miner do its thing if I want, OR let the site deduct some agreed-upon amount from a coin balance that I have. This would let people who want a free-as-in-beer experience on the web do their thing and also let people willing to part with a few pennies have a better overall experience / better battery life.
Random violence against innocents is the rate that one has to worry about in respect to their own well being.
Lets ignore for a moment the non-gang members that have to live in the terrorized community.
Take away the roughly 35% (New Orleans) - 80% (Chicago) homicides due to gang violence and we still have a high homicide rate, unless you assume that 100% of European homicides are not attributable to something akin to gang violence. The Netherlands, for instance, has around 20% of their homicide rate attributed to gangs.
But statistics aside, you can't cleanly divorce the people in the gangs and their violence from the rest of us. This guy that just shot up 600+ people at the concert in Vegas? We'll move on from this very quickly compared to Europeans because 60 deaths is a single day or so of gun death in the US. We're used to it, no matter the cause.
In the context of this discussion, my point is you are picking and choosing data. Pluck all of the criminals out of Europe's data and it will look better, too.
In a larger context, gangs are our moral problem, because we have created them with policies that sustain ghettos. From public education to zoning to welfare/public assistance, our policies all keep people in ghettos whether that was the intent or not.
Moderation is not a binary measure, it is a scale. Every system rejects noise and errors. Most systems screen malevolence at some level. Most systems also have to obey the rules of the jurisdiction they are in - so Google in the US is just as obsessed with intellectual property as the US is. In Europe they have to obey court orders to filter individuals' information. But each level of screening adds another possible failure mode... if you follow people on YouTube you see how this is playing out with false copyright claims and demonetization of "controversial" videos. So the more moderation you have, the more likely that "good" information will get caught up in the multitude of filters. Thus, moderation and free flow of information are inherently conflicting goals. If you "fix" fake news on Facebook, there will be casualties - the balance is very hard to achieve and will never make everyone happy. I'm not saying that they shouldn't try to strike a balance, I'm saying that people need to temper their expectations.
This is the way free information works... most of it is crap. You can't have a system where it is possible for people to post unverified stories about life behind a dictatorial regime that is also moderated.
One of my buddies did that - he ended up with a shweeeeet gaming rig that would be at home in the basement lair of a millenial with rich parents. The problem (besides him never playing games) was it was too hot and too flaky for his spreadsheets:)
and building materiel is going to be prioritised for reconstruction of homes and public structures?
I'm curious to know how you are certain about what they will be prioritizing? I'd think a battery-backed solar array at a local shelter would be very welcome right now, and may indeed take priority over any individual's house.
I average slightly less than 1 every 2 years (The Samsung J3 is brand-new). I'm hard on them - I keep them in my back pocket and they die a 200lb death. The Fire Phone was essentially "free" because I got it on closeout and it came with a year of Prime, and I buy Prime anyway. It wasn't half bad once I put the Google Play store on it. Prior to 2012 I also had 2 eBay used iPhones so that I could play with them and keep my geek card.
What? Maybe System 7 was innovative. 9 was a desperate attempt to keep the ol' geezer marketable after their replacement OS effort Copeland was aborted. It was very uncertain whether or not Apple would even survive. OSX, even in it's initial craptastic state, was welcome relief.
Not sure why they'd be resistant to call it a toy. It's a relatively cheap toy. Boats, cars, RVs, hunting cabins (hell, hunting rifles), paintball equipment, ski equipment, sports gear, camping, season tickets, vacation, pools, Christmas light displays, etc, etc... all can quickly make an iPhone look like pocket change.
I suppose there are people who will claim that the above are also "essential". Anyway, no judgement here. I spend money on stuff that people would call stupid, too. Just not smart phones.
Yeah, $600, $700, $800... all more expensive than the $100-$200 that I've spent on my last 4 phones. (Samsung Exhibit 4G, Moto G 4G, Fire Phone - on fire sale, Samsung J3). I'm just not willing to spend 3-10x that for a toy.
Slashdot Mirror
Over the decades, I've had exactly one socket go bad.
So then if the dongle is more reliable at the USB-C side, and you don't view the socket-side as problematic, I think it'll be fine. The failure will still be on the headphones side.
Also, as my current phone amply demonstrates, you can have a super thin phone and an audio jack, so thinness isn't an advantage to removing it.
Surely, though, you recognize that an extra jack and the associated space can be used to improve the phone in some other way? More battery space or lower total volume are obvious, but there are probably other tradeoffs you could make instead. Better speakers, cocaine storage, whatever. If you are marketing a phone for the masses, you need to go with what matters most to the masses. With some luck, there will always be manufacturers producing a model that fills the niche you occupy. So far, you are doing alright as only a few phones lack earphone jacks. Eventually most earphones will come with Bluetooth and/or a bulit-in USB-C port and it'll be a moot point. I'm sure people groused about the 1/8" jack when it was introduced as well.
They increase the bulk,
I'm going to dismiss that, as people who care about the sound that much have some pretty bulky headphones.
they decrease reliability and repairability,
I don't know if I can agree with this, either. 1/8" headphone connections are pretty darned unreliable. Probably 99% of my headphones have developed a problem at the plug. Sometimes I fix it (my Sennheisers) - but more often they get tossed in the garbage. I've also had to repair multiple 1/8" jacks - including one on a phone. I've had micro USB cords go bad, too - but never a jack. I don't know how USB-C will fare, but I'd bet that it's better than a 1/8" headphone connection.
they get lost
Oh, come on! :)
additional expense.
True, but insignificant compared to the headphones an audiophile is likely to have. (Not to mention the $600+ phone!)
dongles are a bit of a pain in the ass.
Yes, they are definitely an additional step that audiophiles did not previously need to take - so I can understand the derision. But at the end of the day you'll just plug it in (likely after obsessing over getting just the right one) and carry on.
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
They don't offer YOU an advantage, but you are in the very tiny overlapping Venn circles that I was referring to. The vast majority of the buying public will chose the thin phone over the one with the legacy jack.
I don't follow. In what way to they "suck"? Presumably you can just "permanently" attach it to your headphones and carry on like it had a 1/8" jack?
I'm glad it's fine for you. For me, it's far from fine.
I agree that you can hear the difference between BlueTooth and wired. I think most people could in a decent listening environment. The thing is that the Venn Diagram has a very tiny intersection point at "People who care", "People who listen to high-quality recordings on their phone", and "People who use their phone to listen to music in conditions approaching anywhere near an ideal".
When the marketing department sees the throngs of people salivating over ooooo... skinny! vs the handful of people complaining about DACs and jacks - well, they make their choice.
In the end, the pickier users can get the USB-C/lightning adapter and move on with life - so long as their battery is nice and fresh!
Yeah, I can see Google would be unhappy about that. Though if they were clever about it they could develop a platform where people could earn coins for watching ads and plug in to the infrastructure. Maybe they've gotten too big for such risky innovation. They were very disruptive, but now need to fight the disruption...
My bad :)
It's actually the richest, if memory serves. I believe Puerto Rico is actually the most competitive country in all of Latin America, but I don't remember how this is measured.
"Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"
"Masochism Tango"
My favorite quote:
"Lacking exposure in the media, my songs spread slowly. Like herpes, rather than ebola."
I'd like to see a system where I can let the miner do its thing if I want, OR let the site deduct some agreed-upon amount from a coin balance that I have. This would let people who want a free-as-in-beer experience on the web do their thing and also let people willing to part with a few pennies have a better overall experience / better battery life.
There are also practical engineering reasons to do it that way:
So yeah, they might be evil - but they also probably have some good reasons to go to the "cloud".
Obama was a weird choice, but so was Yassir Arafat... like, an actual terrorist. Al Gore had nothing whatsoever to do with peace.
Random violence against innocents is the rate that one has to worry about in respect to their own well being.
Lets ignore for a moment the non-gang members that have to live in the terrorized community.
Take away the roughly 35% (New Orleans) - 80% (Chicago) homicides due to gang violence and we still have a high homicide rate, unless you assume that 100% of European homicides are not attributable to something akin to gang violence. The Netherlands, for instance, has around 20% of their homicide rate attributed to gangs.
But statistics aside, you can't cleanly divorce the people in the gangs and their violence from the rest of us. This guy that just shot up 600+ people at the concert in Vegas? We'll move on from this very quickly compared to Europeans because 60 deaths is a single day or so of gun death in the US. We're used to it, no matter the cause.
In the context of this discussion, my point is you are picking and choosing data. Pluck all of the criminals out of Europe's data and it will look better, too.
In a larger context, gangs are our moral problem, because we have created them with policies that sustain ghettos. From public education to zoning to welfare/public assistance, our policies all keep people in ghettos whether that was the intent or not.
Moderation is not a binary measure, it is a scale. Every system rejects noise and errors. Most systems screen malevolence at some level. Most systems also have to obey the rules of the jurisdiction they are in - so Google in the US is just as obsessed with intellectual property as the US is. In Europe they have to obey court orders to filter individuals' information. But each level of screening adds another possible failure mode... if you follow people on YouTube you see how this is playing out with false copyright claims and demonetization of "controversial" videos. So the more moderation you have, the more likely that "good" information will get caught up in the multitude of filters. Thus, moderation and free flow of information are inherently conflicting goals. If you "fix" fake news on Facebook, there will be casualties - the balance is very hard to achieve and will never make everyone happy. I'm not saying that they shouldn't try to strike a balance, I'm saying that people need to temper their expectations.
This is the way free information works... most of it is crap. You can't have a system where it is possible for people to post unverified stories about life behind a dictatorial regime that is also moderated.
I think you need to be curious about everything to be a geek. I wanted to dick with a Windows phone, too, but they seem to be mostly extinct.
One of my buddies did that - he ended up with a shweeeeet gaming rig that would be at home in the basement lair of a millenial with rich parents. The problem (besides him never playing games) was it was too hot and too flaky for his spreadsheets :)
Exactly. Hospitals, nursing homes, distribution centers, shelters, schools, etc. Lots of great places to have electricity!
Though I suppose hospitals probably need more power than these could provide, and probably are getting priority for generators and diesel.
and building materiel is going to be prioritised for reconstruction of homes and public structures?
I'm curious to know how you are certain about what they will be prioritizing? I'd think a battery-backed solar array at a local shelter would be very welcome right now, and may indeed take priority over any individual's house.
Sadly, the first Google hit to "wa la" is "Voilà".
Don't lock yourself into anything. Use the hardware you have to its fullest and have a backup regimen. Hardware goes tits up? Replace and restore.
I average slightly less than 1 every 2 years (The Samsung J3 is brand-new). I'm hard on them - I keep them in my back pocket and they die a 200lb death. The Fire Phone was essentially "free" because I got it on closeout and it came with a year of Prime, and I buy Prime anyway. It wasn't half bad once I put the Google Play store on it. Prior to 2012 I also had 2 eBay used iPhones so that I could play with them and keep my geek card.
What? Maybe System 7 was innovative. 9 was a desperate attempt to keep the ol' geezer marketable after their replacement OS effort Copeland was aborted. It was very uncertain whether or not Apple would even survive. OSX, even in it's initial craptastic state, was welcome relief.
Not sure why they'd be resistant to call it a toy. It's a relatively cheap toy. Boats, cars, RVs, hunting cabins (hell, hunting rifles), paintball equipment, ski equipment, sports gear, camping, season tickets, vacation, pools, Christmas light displays, etc, etc... all can quickly make an iPhone look like pocket change.
I suppose there are people who will claim that the above are also "essential". Anyway, no judgement here. I spend money on stuff that people would call stupid, too. Just not smart phones.
Yeah, $600, $700, $800... all more expensive than the $100-$200 that I've spent on my last 4 phones. (Samsung Exhibit 4G, Moto G 4G, Fire Phone - on fire sale, Samsung J3). I'm just not willing to spend 3-10x that for a toy.