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> it was replaced with a common and better standard. Bluetooth. Wireless. Allows play/pause button, forward and rewind button. Even transmits song titles to

> it was replaced with a common and better standard. Bluetooth. Wireless. Allows play/pause button, forward and rewind button. Even transmits song titles to your car stereo. Exists on all PCs, Macs, iOS phones, Android phones, late-model cars, and even some home stereos. A few people will shout loudly about this jack being gone. Everyone else will get a cheap Bluetooth, wonder why they futzed with a cord this long, remember to charge it every now and then, and otherwise not think about it much.

y4mi 10y ago
and it works splendidly until someone with a bluetooth enabled device like a smart tv comes along. once that ... thing is nearby it will try to pair with any and all devices in the vicinity, making everything pretty much unusable. i was really happy with my bluetooth headset until i moved into an apartment in a bigger city. suddenly my devices no longer pair with the headset because other devices, not owned by me, are quicker with their autodiscovery and forced 'add' behaviour.
idbehold 10y ago
> remember to charge it every now and then, and otherwise not think about it much And that, folks, is why the 3.5mm jack is still the gold standard.
bcrescimanno 10y ago
...right up until they want to use their headphones with their Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and remember what a huge pain in the ass it is to pair and un-pair bluetooth devices. Bluetooth has some compelling use cases. This isn't one of them.
- josho 10y ago
  Is this a bluetooth problem or shitty product problem? Eg. my car has no problem being the 'headphone' for several different devices.
  - jschwartzi 10y ago
    That's an excellent solution for anyone who doesn't mind carrying a car around with them.
    - imtringued 10y ago
      Just park it outside as usual and let it play the music for the entire neighborhood...
coldpie 10y ago
Wireless sucks. Connections drop, interference hampers it, it's far more costly, there's a significant delay, you're required to charge the device, it uses more battery to operate the radio.
- pigeons 10y ago
  Also there are privacy issues/tracking of hardware addresses.
- beggi 10y ago
  Anecdotal for sure, but I've been using Bluetooth headphones with my phone for couple of years now. Wouldn't go back. The connection almost never drop and there's no interference. There's no delay because the phone syncs all audio with the bluetooth headphones. I don't see noticable drop in iPhone's battery either. The only annoying thing I've noticed is that sometimes my headphones have run out of battery, but it's not a big deal for me at least.
cm2187 10y ago
And then I have to babysit even more batteries. I like my headphone, I can forget them in my pocket when I don't need them. I have already too many batteries to care for.
rasz_pl 10y ago
>Bluetooth. -more expensive, again bluetooth stack is the size of IPv4 stack -lossy audio, or again more expensive headphones full of patented crap ->100ms latency
perlpimp 10y ago
That is so true, its the same situation whip makers were in when car were becoming popular. Wireless is so much better especially for portables. If I go hi-fi route I am sure theres tons of options available anyway. Lots of headphone amps do accept digital input already and headphone amplifier circuitry generally sucks, nexus and iphone being not too bad in this department. Another thing is, makers should make digital port extra sturdy. MicroUSB and lighting is pretty good at that already IMO.

y4mi 10y ago

and it works splendidly until someone with a bluetooth enabled device like a smart tv comes along. once that ... thing is nearby it will try to pair with any and all devices in the vicinity, making everything pretty much unusable. i was really happy with my bluetooth headset until i moved into an apartment in a bigger city. suddenly my devices no longer pair with the headset because other devices, not owned by me, are quicker with their autodiscovery and forced 'add' behaviour.

idbehold 10y ago

> remember to charge it every now and then, and otherwise not think about it much And that, folks, is why the 3.5mm jack is still the gold standard.

bcrescimanno 10y ago

...right up until they want to use their headphones with their Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and remember what a huge pain in the ass it is to pair and un-pair bluetooth devices. Bluetooth has some compelling use cases. This isn't one of them.

josho 10y ago
Is this a bluetooth problem or shitty product problem? Eg. my car has no problem being the 'headphone' for several different devices.
- jschwartzi 10y ago
  That's an excellent solution for anyone who doesn't mind carrying a car around with them.
  - imtringued 10y ago
    Just park it outside as usual and let it play the music for the entire neighborhood...

coldpie 10y ago

Wireless sucks. Connections drop, interference hampers it, it's far more costly, there's a significant delay, you're required to charge the device, it uses more battery to operate the radio.

pigeons 10y ago
Also there are privacy issues/tracking of hardware addresses.
beggi 10y ago
Anecdotal for sure, but I've been using Bluetooth headphones with my phone for couple of years now. Wouldn't go back. The connection almost never drop and there's no interference. There's no delay because the phone syncs all audio with the bluetooth headphones. I don't see noticable drop in iPhone's battery either. The only annoying thing I've noticed is that sometimes my headphones have run out of battery, but it's not a big deal for me at least.

cm2187 10y ago

And then I have to babysit even more batteries. I like my headphone, I can forget them in my pocket when I don't need them. I have already too many batteries to care for.

rasz_pl 10y ago

>Bluetooth. -more expensive, again bluetooth stack is the size of IPv4 stack -lossy audio, or again more expensive headphones full of patented crap ->100ms latency

perlpimp 10y ago

That is so true, its the same situation whip makers were in when car were becoming popular. Wireless is so much better especially for portables. If I go hi-fi route I am sure theres tons of options available anyway. Lots of headphone amps do accept digital input already and headphone amplifier circuitry generally sucks, nexus and iphone being not too bad in this department. Another thing is, makers should make digital port extra sturdy. MicroUSB and lighting is pretty good at that already IMO.