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If you work in 'the industry', surely it would not be a big deal to carry around an adapter a long with the other standard tools of your trade? I imagine it'll

If you work in 'the industry', surely it would not be a big deal to carry around an adapter a long with the other standard tools of your trade? I imagine it'll be about as inconvenient as carrying around ear buds.

limeblack 9y ago
Having used the adapters they often break very easily and look like a complete mess. I have been through several on my iPhone.
eropple 9y ago
It is much more likely that I misplace an adapter or break the connector or break the port than it is that I have a problem with a built-in 3.5mm jack. And, similarly, this is why we still use 1/4" jacks and XLR for real audio gear. We could make all this stuff smaller, we could make all this stuff digital, but it'd be more stuff that breaks on us.
rburhum 9y ago
I lost my iOS headphones and the little white adapter so I can use the "old" plug. For the past two days I have been running in the gym without listening to absolutely nothing even though I have like 20 headphones in my closet. What a stupid idea.
binaryblitz 9y ago
You can't charge your phone and listen to music through the dongle. This is the deal breaker for me.
- kpxxx3 9y ago
  At least for the iphone, this is not true. I'm not going to argue that the dongle is elegant, but you can do it.
__sha3d2 9y ago
"I'm sure you can put up with this massive inconvenience for a job and workflow I have no understanding of or context for but sure do have an opinion on" Found the SWE!
- zenojevski 9y ago
  I say you are committing the same sin exactly. The audio industry is the most adapter-heavy industry on the planet. I need to carry a bag of adapters, and I'm just a small-time home-recording guy. Single/double RCA to mono/stereo big/small jack, double mono/stereo big/small jack to stereo/mono small/big jack, the other way around, and more, you name it. Even if you got a 3.5mm jack, you’d still need adapters, because very little audio equipment uses 3.5mm jacks anyway. Even the most basic stuff only carries 1/4”, RCA or XLR. My headphones do not carry a 3.5mm jack as well. You might think of committing to a single cable-type everywhere, and being done with it – but if you’ve ever coded in the real world you know how realistic that sounds.
  - eropple 9y ago
    A 3.5-to-1/4 adapter or cable is a difference of kind to a Lightning or USB adapter. One costs me a couple bucks, is electrical, and in a pinch I can even repair it in the field. The other costs me no doubt more (and I say "no doubt" because I can't even find one for an Android device, and that's before we get into compatibility-matrix craziness), is digital, and is a black box to me.
  - __sha3d2 9y ago
    I'm with you, fellow small time home recording guy who needs to carry around adapters. My synth is 3.5mm out, my mixer is XLR / 1/4 inch Mono or Stereo, my piano puts out in mono or stereo 1/4, and on and on and on. I still think that the hubris to say 'what's one more adaptor' is enormous.
archagon 9y ago
With the iPhone, some combos are no longer possible with any adaptor. For example, audio out and data in. Nobody makes an audio+data dongle, only audio+charge.

limeblack 9y ago

Having used the adapters they often break very easily and look like a complete mess. I have been through several on my iPhone.

eropple 9y ago

It is much more likely that I misplace an adapter or break the connector or break the port than it is that I have a problem with a built-in 3.5mm jack. And, similarly, this is why we still use 1/4" jacks and XLR for real audio gear. We could make all this stuff smaller, we could make all this stuff digital, but it'd be more stuff that breaks on us.

rburhum 9y ago

I lost my iOS headphones and the little white adapter so I can use the "old" plug. For the past two days I have been running in the gym without listening to absolutely nothing even though I have like 20 headphones in my closet. What a stupid idea.

binaryblitz 9y ago

You can't charge your phone and listen to music through the dongle. This is the deal breaker for me.

kpxxx3 9y ago
At least for the iphone, this is not true. I'm not going to argue that the dongle is elegant, but you can do it.

__sha3d2 9y ago

"I'm sure you can put up with this massive inconvenience for a job and workflow I have no understanding of or context for but sure do have an opinion on" Found the SWE!

zenojevski 9y ago
I say you are committing the same sin exactly. The audio industry is the most adapter-heavy industry on the planet. I need to carry a bag of adapters, and I'm just a small-time home-recording guy. Single/double RCA to mono/stereo big/small jack, double mono/stereo big/small jack to stereo/mono small/big jack, the other way around, and more, you name it. Even if you got a 3.5mm jack, you’d still need adapters, because very little audio equipment uses 3.5mm jacks anyway. Even the most basic stuff only carries 1/4”, RCA or XLR. My headphones do not carry a 3.5mm jack as well. You might think of committing to a single cable-type everywhere, and being done with it – but if you’ve ever coded in the real world you know how realistic that sounds.
- eropple 9y ago
  A 3.5-to-1/4 adapter or cable is a difference of kind to a Lightning or USB adapter. One costs me a couple bucks, is electrical, and in a pinch I can even repair it in the field. The other costs me no doubt more (and I say "no doubt" because I can't even find one for an Android device, and that's before we get into compatibility-matrix craziness), is digital, and is a black box to me.
- __sha3d2 9y ago
  I'm with you, fellow small time home recording guy who needs to carry around adapters. My synth is 3.5mm out, my mixer is XLR / 1/4 inch Mono or Stereo, my piano puts out in mono or stereo 1/4, and on and on and on. I still think that the hubris to say 'what's one more adaptor' is enormous.

archagon 9y ago

With the iPhone, some combos are no longer possible with any adaptor. For example, audio out and data in. Nobody makes an audio+data dongle, only audio+charge.