3 ms·

I would be ok with this as it would mean I can get noise cancelling headphones that are powered via the connection to the phone and don't need their own power s

by satysin 11y ago

I would be ok with this as it would mean I can get noise cancelling headphones that are powered via the connection to the phone and don't need their own power source. Yes it will make the $3 headphones more expensive but considering I would never buy such headphones I don't have a problem with that. Anyway there will no doubt be $2 USB-C to 3.5mm converters available for people who want to use old headphones. The nice thing with 3.5mm though is it "just works". I worry that with a complicated interface such as USB we will end up with incompatible headsets even worse than we do today with 3.5mm TRRS.

logfromblammo 11y ago
It just works until the plastic housing on the receptacle cracks, and you can no longer get a good electrical connection. The big problem is that the jack acts as a lever that can transmit enough force into the receptacle to destroy either one or the other rather than breaking the connection. And the more ring conductors you want to add, the longer the lever can become. I have been really happy with all my devices that have standardized on USB for charging. In contrast, Apple's proprietary 30-pin and Lightning (and MagSafe, while I'm at it) just make me think they're being colossal dicks, doing whatever TF they want, rather than meaningfully contributing to a standards consortium and licensing their patents to it.
- perilunar 11y ago
  I hate proprietary connectors, but I love MagSafe—it's saved my laptop many times. Why can't all connectors be magsafe?
  - logfromblammo 11y ago
    In short, that's because Apple flat-out refuses to license the patent to anyone. Never mind that magnetic power connectors had already been invented, and that Apple's patent is essentially another "this already existing thing except on a computer" patent.

3 ms·

I would be ok with this as it would mean I can get noise cancelling headphones that are powered via the connection to the phone and don't need their own power s

by satysin 11y ago

logfromblammo 11y ago
It just works until the plastic housing on the receptacle cracks, and you can no longer get a good electrical connection. The big problem is that the jack acts as a lever that can transmit enough force into the receptacle to destroy either one or the other rather than breaking the connection. And the more ring conductors you want to add, the longer the lever can become. I have been really happy with all my devices that have standardized on USB for charging. In contrast, Apple's proprietary 30-pin and Lightning (and MagSafe, while I'm at it) just make me think they're being colossal dicks, doing whatever TF they want, rather than meaningfully contributing to a standards consortium and licensing their patents to it.
- perilunar 11y ago
  I hate proprietary connectors, but I love MagSafe—it's saved my laptop many times. Why can't all connectors be magsafe?
  - logfromblammo 11y ago
    In short, that's because Apple flat-out refuses to license the patent to anyone. Never mind that magnetic power connectors had already been invented, and that Apple's patent is essentially another "this already existing thing except on a computer" patent.