The biggest non-issue

by Volker Weber

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Hottest item for weeks has been Apple dropping the headset jack from iPhone 7. The topic appears to be most popular amongst pundits who don't even want an iPhone.

To tell you the truth, I don't care. Neither do most people who buy an iPhone. They just take the new earbuds out of the box and plug them into the Lightning port. And that aftermarket headset they own? They will attach that small Lightning adapter that comes with the iPhone to their headset and then quickly forget about it. Chances are they want to buy a pair of those AirPods. Most iPhone owners I know can't wait. For those who can wait it will be a wonderful Xmas present.

You would not believe how many people just play music from their phone's speakers. And that got significantly better with louder stereo speakers. Why is nobody talking about that?

Comments

Sehr richtig! Und ein durchaus interessanter Artikel dazu ist mir gestern über den Weg gelaufen: http://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2016/9/13/airpods.

Tobias Vogel, 2016-09-16

Dass man irgendwann eine Uhr plus Ohrenstöpsel statt eines Smartphones haben will, ist selbst für die schwierig zu antizipieren, die den Film "Her" gesehen haben.

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

I present to you http://9gag.com/gag/a5r59qO
I also had one of those adapters for my Sony mobile phone about 10 years ago. Nobody seems to remember that back then there were also mobiles without headphone jacks but with music playing capabilities and adapters. And back then nobody really cared.

Daniel Haferkorn, 2016-09-16

Danke Tobias, guter Artikel!

Martin Cygan, 2016-09-16

Daniel, 9gag completely misses the point. You can't see the future in the rear view mirror. Last week I noticed that the DVD drive in my (old) iMac never worked. The world moves on.

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

An interesting point of view:
https://medium.com/chris-messina/silicon-valley-is-all-wrong-about-the-airpods-8204ede08f0f#.ehg0q810a

"So, don’t confuse AirPods with just another Bluetooth headset; that’s not what they’re replacing. AirPods offer a new relationship because they’re alluring, sensuous, and sultry:

AirPods are sex sticks that fuck your ears."

Thomas Odorfer, 2016-09-16

It's not about moving forward it's about ecosystem lock in. Apple can now charge extra if you lose your adaptor or if you want to charge and use wired headsets. Also if you buy Wired headphones that use lightning you can't use them on anything else. You can be backwards compatible and forward looking at the same time. Also how long did they spend designing the AirPods? Jonny Ive should be ashamed.

David Guillaume, 2016-09-16

David, you are not an iPhone user, are you?

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

Funktionieren eigentlich die ganzen Minikreditkartenterminals noch, die es Zuhauf gibt (zum Einstecken in den Klinkenstecker)? (sowas z.B.: https://www.innerfence.com/apps/credit-card-terminal).

Wenn man danach sucht, gibts verschiedene Meinungen:
- Square sagt ihrer funktioniert mit dem Adapter (http://www.macworld.com/article/3117649/hardware/dont-worry-squares-card-reader-works-with-apples-iphone-7-headphone-jack-adapter.html)
- Dann wieder Horrormeldungen, dass Apple damit ein ganzes Segment an Firmen lahmlegt (finde die Quelle dazu nicht, bin der Meinung das auf Hackernews gelesen zu haben)

Aber eigentlich spricht ja nichts gegen den Adapter, sind ja "nur" Audiosignale - ob die Wandlung im Telefon oder im Adapter stattfindet sollte egal sein, oder bin ich am Holzweg? Klar, sieht nicht mehr so "schön" aus - aber form follows function.


Harald Reisinger, 2016-09-16

Ich weiß es nicht, aber der Ing in mir sagt, das spielt keine Rolle. Der DAC wandert vom iPhone ins Kabel.

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

Vermutlich müssen die Hersteller mal drüber nachdenken, ob ein Modem (tüdelü) auf Dauer die beste Lösung ist.

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

I have a 6S for work, but prefer Android :)

David Guillaume, 2016-09-16

I figured, David. These concerns are hardly ever found with Apple customers. You don't fear vendor lock-in. You fear customer lock-out. Those AirPods would work with your Android phone, but they would suck as much as any Bluetooth headset.

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

I am an Apple user, but only for my secondary (client-issued) phone. I don't play music on that device, and I'm unlikely to be upgrading that phone. A 5c serves my purposes, and my client's purposes, just fine. However, I do know how you feel about DRM, and many people think the decision to get rid of the headphone jack is at least partially driven by DRM or DRM-like objectives. If I've missed you commenting about this already, I apologize, but I'm interested in your thoughts on the matter.

Richard Schwartz, 2016-09-16

Yes, I read these stories. And no, it's not about DRM at all. It's the same thing as with MacBook Air. The optical drive had to go.

Volker Weber, 2016-09-16

The W1 chip is already available inside the Beats Solo3. I would bite if it also featured ANR. Micro-USB instead of lightning is also a bummer. https://youtu.be/FiIO0iHzs6A

Dietmar Liehr, 2016-09-17

Ich empfehle https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0154G46Y0/

Volker Weber, 2016-09-17

Danke für den Tipp!

Dietmar Liehr, 2016-09-17

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