3 ms·

I didn't downvote, but I suspect he's getting downvoted because what he said is not rational, but actually a pretty bad rationalization. The Gameboy Advanced S

I didn't downvote, but I suspect he's getting downvoted because what he said is not rational, but actually a pretty bad rationalization. The Gameboy Advanced SP is used to play video games, and I don't know of a single game on it that doesn't include music and sound-effects. In other words, 99% of the GBA SP's use case involves sound, in contrast to the iPhone, where there are plenty of apps that don't require sound, such as texting, browsing the web, looking at maps, etc. Better to just accept that the SP not having a headphone jack was bad, but it sold anyway, and that the iPhone not having a headphone jack will be bad, but it'll probably sell anyway, instead of coming up with illogical post-hoc justifications for why it's okay for the SP but not the iPhone.

chris_wot 10y ago
I don't tend to make many phone/FaceTime calls that lack sound. I also tend to enjoy listening to music and videos with sound. Could be just my illogical post-hoc rationalisation kicking in though.
- covekeyboard 10y ago
  Sure, there are plenty of use cases that require sound in the iPhone. I never disputed that. But this is something it has in common with the SP, not a difference. I guess I was pretty rude about it, though, so sorry about that.
  - chris_wot 10y ago
    Its ok, I've said worse. Thank you for apologising.
ubertaco 10y ago
I disagree. near-0% of the Gameboy's use-cases are audio-centric. I almost always played my Gameboy(s) with the volume down, so as not to annoy parents/siblings/whoever-else-was-around, and the games I played were all perfectly playable. In fact, some of them I enjoyed better that way, given that some sound was annoying, but that's purely subjective. When I go to the gym, 95% to 100% of what I want to do with my phone is put it in my pocket and listen to music. This is a use-case that requires audio, and so removing the headphone jack would make this entire very-common use-case painful. When I'm in my car, I want to plug my phone into the aux input (or the "aux cord" as kids call it nowadays) and listen to a podcast or audiobook. My 2006 car does not have bluetooth audio. This use-case is (if I'm being safe and legal while driving!) 100% audio-centric. Removal of the headphone jack would make this painful. When I'm at work, I have two primary usages for my phone: testing a native app I develop, and playing my music through my headphones. I play music far more often than I test the native app on my phone (I don't usually work on the native app). Removal of the headphone jack would make that primary usage of my phone much much more painful. I've just described ~65-70% of what I use my phone for. ~65-70% of my phone's entire usage would be made more painful and expensive if I bought a phone that for no real reason omitted a jack that is cheap, ubiquitous, and simple-to-use (compare the 3.5mm jack to HDMI in terms of reliability and simplicity), my phone would lose ~65-70% of its usefulness to me. Meanwhile, the Gameboy, since its purpose is to play games (which have sound and music that is optional to the experience of playing games), loses near-0% of its usefulness without having a headphone jack, because even if it had no audio output whatsoever (not even speakers), I can still play games without sound.

chris_wot 10y ago

I don't tend to make many phone/FaceTime calls that lack sound. I also tend to enjoy listening to music and videos with sound. Could be just my illogical post-hoc rationalisation kicking in though.

covekeyboard 10y ago
Sure, there are plenty of use cases that require sound in the iPhone. I never disputed that. But this is something it has in common with the SP, not a difference. I guess I was pretty rude about it, though, so sorry about that.
- chris_wot 10y ago
  Its ok, I've said worse. Thank you for apologising.

ubertaco 10y ago

I disagree. near-0% of the Gameboy's use-cases are audio-centric. I almost always played my Gameboy(s) with the volume down, so as not to annoy parents/siblings/whoever-else-was-around, and the games I played were all perfectly playable. In fact, some of them I enjoyed better that way, given that some sound was annoying, but that's purely subjective. When I go to the gym, 95% to 100% of what I want to do with my phone is put it in my pocket and listen to music. This is a use-case that requires audio, and so removing the headphone jack would make this entire very-common use-case painful. When I'm in my car, I want to plug my phone into the aux input (or the "aux cord" as kids call it nowadays) and listen to a podcast or audiobook. My 2006 car does not have bluetooth audio. This use-case is (if I'm being safe and legal while driving!) 100% audio-centric. Removal of the headphone jack would make this painful. When I'm at work, I have two primary usages for my phone: testing a native app I develop, and playing my music through my headphones. I play music far more often than I test the native app on my phone (I don't usually work on the native app). Removal of the headphone jack would make that primary usage of my phone much much more painful. I've just described ~65-70% of what I use my phone for. ~65-70% of my phone's entire usage would be made more painful and expensive if I bought a phone that for no real reason omitted a jack that is cheap, ubiquitous, and simple-to-use (compare the 3.5mm jack to HDMI in terms of reliability and simplicity), my phone would lose ~65-70% of its usefulness to me. Meanwhile, the Gameboy, since its purpose is to play games (which have sound and music that is optional to the experience of playing games), loses near-0% of its usefulness without having a headphone jack, because even if it had no audio output whatsoever (not even speakers), I can still play games without sound.