4 ms·

Wi-Fi has entirely replaced Ethernet for me for almost 15 years. I also notice no difference these days with Bluetooth headphones. Both of these seem to act as

Wi-Fi has entirely replaced Ethernet for me for almost 15 years. I also notice no difference these days with Bluetooth headphones. Both of these seem to act as replacements for their wired predecessors that fulfill the needs and expectations of most people. This is clearer when it comes to Ethernet, as the advantage of wireless networking is far greater than the advantage of wireless earphones. What more do you need to consider these replacements?

grishka 5y ago
There's nothing that can fix them for me. They're unreliable by virtue of being wireless and using a medium shared with many similar devices as well as things like microwaves. Wired connections don't have that problem — either they work or they don't because the cable broke or the connector isn't all the way in. They're much easier to troubleshoot because your devices aren't connected by invisible ether and common state in their memory, you can actually see and touch the thing that connects them. Besides, I just don't trust the connection that is managed by software. Complex, proprietary software, that implements thousands pages worth of specifications. Where you would simply insert a plug into a jack and be done with it, in this "future" you now need to go through menus and click buttons, some of which sometimes do nothing, when your headphones won't connect to your phone. And don't even get me started on using the same headphones with more than one device. It's a ridiculous mess. Then I just don't want my headphones to have a firmware and a CPU. I also don't want them to have a battery that ages and needs charging.
archagon 5y ago
Bluetooth will never work for applications that require low audio latency, such as pro audio software or rhythm games. Even in the best case, BT latency seems to be on the order of 50-100ms.
foepys 5y ago
I once lived in an apartment where I saw 45 simultaneously active wifi networks. Not even in a skyscraper, only an ordinary 3 story building in a residential street. It wasn't fun, even on 5 GHz it constantly disconnected.

grishka 5y ago

There's nothing that can fix them for me. They're unreliable by virtue of being wireless and using a medium shared with many similar devices as well as things like microwaves. Wired connections don't have that problem — either they work or they don't because the cable broke or the connector isn't all the way in. They're much easier to troubleshoot because your devices aren't connected by invisible ether and common state in their memory, you can actually see and touch the thing that connects them. Besides, I just don't trust the connection that is managed by software. Complex, proprietary software, that implements thousands pages worth of specifications. Where you would simply insert a plug into a jack and be done with it, in this "future" you now need to go through menus and click buttons, some of which sometimes do nothing, when your headphones won't connect to your phone. And don't even get me started on using the same headphones with more than one device. It's a ridiculous mess. Then I just don't want my headphones to have a firmware and a CPU. I also don't want them to have a battery that ages and needs charging.

archagon 5y ago

Bluetooth will never work for applications that require low audio latency, such as pro audio software or rhythm games. Even in the best case, BT latency seems to be on the order of 50-100ms.

foepys 5y ago

I once lived in an apartment where I saw 45 simultaneously active wifi networks. Not even in a skyscraper, only an ordinary 3 story building in a residential street. It wasn't fun, even on 5 GHz it constantly disconnected.