PC World has an article on why USB-C has not been a viable alternative for the 3.5mm audio jack. Problems with USB-C include variable handling of digital to audio conversion, incompatible SOCs inside the cable, and non-standard analog-passthrough. In short, the cables which contain computers themselves are not standardized in behavior and the author's conclusion is that mobile devices must have 3.5mm jacks until the USB-C cable technology gets sorted out enough that they become usable.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:29PM (1 child)
Your S9+ costs more than every single phone I've ever owned in my life, collectively.
It also costs more than my laptop.
And more than each car I've ever owned (except one which I bought brand-new).
For a headphone jack? Sorry, but no. My S4 Mini and S5 Mini were fine, and have IR blasters. I put the S4 onto LineageOS and use it as a literal remote control (that can also push movies from the Netflix app onto my Chromecast etc.). To upgrade from my S5 Mini, I would need something in the price-range I paid for it (£200 for a brand-new one), that'll last as long as the S4 Mini (5 years minimum) and that I don't lose functionality on.
It also requires a change of charger or adaptors for everything which would cost more than the headphone jack ever could.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday September 12 2018, @06:48PM
Must be pretty young then, or the owner of some seriously minimalist devices. I've been buying phones since the early 1970's, and the total spent was probably more than the cost of the S9+ even before cellphones hit the market. I don't doubt you, I just find your statement surprising.
Oh, I completely agree. However, for all the other benefits plus the headphone jack? The time saved by all that compute power... The display size and quality... The quality of the cameras... The considerable sensor suite... The wireless charging... IP68 water resistance... Always-on-display... 6GB of RAM... 64 GB of base storage... the broad array of connectivity...
Abso-bloody-lutely.
No, it's not perfect — I'd prefer a replaceable battery, a display that didn't go to the edges, and an externally accessible slot for additional storage — but those features weren't things I could find that went with other features I wanted.
That's a tree you're looking at. The forest awaits your gaze. :)