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When Apple first removed the headphone jack I was a big opponent of what they had done. It didn't affect me personally though, as I had an old laptop and phone
by fyfy18 8y ago
When Apple first removed the headphone jack I was a big opponent of what they had done. It didn't affect me personally though, as I had an old laptop and phone both with headphone jacks and no plans to upgrade. Still I was quite vocal about how stupid it was to remove them.
At the time I was working at home, and had an old set of Sennheiser headphones with a 3m long cable that I usually used for music. Occasionally I'd end up tangled up in the cable, all attempts to prevent it failed. For calls I had a cheap Sennheiser headset which did the trick, and did (what I thought was) a pretty decent job of blocking out noise when travelling.
Earlier this year I went back to the office, and needed some noise cancelling headphones, so got Sony MDR-1000X which are Bluetooth. The noise cancelling really puts the old headset I had to shame, when on an aircraft if I play light music I literally can't hear any outside noise. They are comfortable to wear all the time (a few times in summer my ears did get a bit sweaty) and I usually charge them once or a maximum twice a week, even though I'm using them most of the day. When they say they are low I still get a few hours usage, so just put them on charge at lunch when it first warns me.
Compared to my old headphones the noise quality is about the same, but these have built in volume and track controls, and a microphone. Bluetooth just works for me, and the range is not a problem. I can easily have my phone on one side of my apartment, and listen to music on the other. I have them paired with my phone and computer, and can easily switch the source without major issues. It just works (apart from some weird Linux bug where it uses the wrong audio profile, but on other OSes it's fine).
A few months ago I got a new phone and it didn't come with an audio jack. I tried to find one that did, but this had the best specs for what I wanted, so it was a sacrifice I would have to make. The phone come with a dongle, but I haven't even removed it from the packaging in the box. I just haven't needed it, and don't care that it's gone.
Same thing on my laptop, it has an audio jack (output only) but I don't care if it's removed as I never use it now. On my PC I had to buy a cheapo USB sound card as the built in audio jack had lots of static, so I don't really care if that's removed either.
Bluetooth is good enough, it's just going to be a while until a $15 set of Bluetooth earphones are at a similar quality level to a $15 set of wired earphones. I do agree the execution could have been done better by Apple (e.g. lightning headphones, which you can't use on all Apple hardware) and it was possibly a bit premature, but eventually we would have reached this point.
As for the so called audiophiles who need it, wouldn't you be better off with an external soundcard, rather than relying on whatever $0.50 chip the manufacturer can find?
- PavlovsCat 8y agoWell, I don't like the pushiness of it. Just take how this story dropped off the front page like a brick. If someone slapped me on the butt or head and said "hey there, you look like you really want some nice ice cream", even if I actually were up for ice cream, I would lose my currently existing appetite for ice cream until the memory of that creep has faded. It doesn't matter if someone else accepts being treated that way, or didn't quite catch what is going on. I also don't like how the general shift to selling experiences and status symbols instead of tools. The sheer inability to leave people alone and in peace with what works for them, just because it some marketing people have an idea how to get them to "engage" some more and buy more stuff. For example it's kinda nuts that laptops and smartphones are advertised with how thing they are, they're thin enough either way. In a context of humanity hardly even beginning to address the problems our consumerism caused, this is all just lethal circus. All that went on before the removal of the headphone jack, but that is part of it. Since the Iraq war I avoid flying when I can, even before climate change became scary real, of course I'll avoid products of companies whose attitudes are incompatible with a rational marketplace. Because either that will end, or humanity will end. Just like I don't rely on a $0.50 chip, I don't rely on the "ideas" of equivalent thinkers, or the "awareness" of the mass of people. > this had the best specs for what I wanted, so it was a sacrifice I would have to make Well, to me that is entirely backwards. Customers are looking for something, but are denied that thing because companies have other "visions" for them. People find the story interesting and it garners a lot of votes quickly, so it is dropped to the second page just like that... Nothing spells "courage" like that kind of stuff. I just checked, just in the time it took me to write this it dropped from the middle of the second to the third page, but still managed to garner more votes. If the companies treat their fanbases as children and they end up acting like this on their behalf, flagging and downvoting what they don't want to hear, and/or if the companies themselves fuck with online discussions and the consumers look the other way, I'm against it by default either way, before we could possibly get to any technical details. In short, there is a difference between a good reason for something, and a rationalization of something that was pushed onto you. Yes, I also use an external soundcard and like wireless headphones, but not for mobile devices, and the discussion isn't about "why did most people buy devices withouth headphone jacks once those became available too", this is about things being pushed unilaterally, for sheer profit.