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Apple's 'courage' to remove the headphone jack has created a brave new world
It was barely two years ago when we lamented the loss of the headphone jack on the iPhone. The iPhone 7 had just arrived with a gorgeous jet black color, a solid-state home button, and a dongle in place of the 3.5mm headphone jack. At the iPhone 7 introduction, Apple VP Phil Schiller talked about having the "courage" to make the change, to leave the headphone jack behind.
At the time it was kind of cringe-worthy. Rather than try to convince the audience of the benefits of wireless charging or the annoyances of wired earphones, Schiller basically told the audience that they might not understand now, but one day they will. You could hear the snickers in the auidence when he said that removing the headphone jack required the "courage to move on and do something new that betters all of us." It sounded ridiculous. All we could see was the inconvenience ahead.
But you know what? He was right.
It might have sounded like the reality distortion field on steroids, but Apple's decision to remove the headphone jack from its most popular product wasn't a flippant design whim. It was the start of a new strategy that would bring convenience, simplicity, and downright delight.
The move led to courageous sales of AirPods.
See also: Poll: Looking back now, did Apple exhibit 'courage' in removing the headphone jack from iPhones?
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Apple on the Decline
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 09 2019, @10:01AM (3 children)
Convenience? What convenience is it to have to pair your headphones instead of simply plugging them in? What convenience is there to have yet another battery that may run low and has to be recharged all the time?
Simplicity? How is a complicated wireless protocol simpler than just putting a plug into a jack?
Downright delight? Well, you could say it adds to the delight of not owning an Apple device. ;-)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday April 09 2019, @10:56AM (1 child)
I think you read the sentence wrong. It was CONVENIENT to take more dollars from customers for more costly wireless headphones. It was SIMPLICITY itself to raise revenue. It was DOWNRIGHT DELIGHT for Apple executives to walk home with more money in their pockets, yet again figuring out a way to remove a standard port/device from an Apple product in order to suck money out of customers to pay for a dongle or a new item to connect.
This is not a new strategy for Apple. I really truly wish someone would dig up that old Mac vs. PC commercial and do a parody in line with modern times -- remember the one where the Mac was the cool guy who supposedly could talk to or connect to anyone (implicitly always work with devices) while the PC guy was the awkward guy who couldn't even speak the same language and needed loads of configuration.
Because basically since that commercial (and even before) Apple has done its best to remove standard ports and sell people $20 dongles just to use standard accessories or else Apple's own much more pricey accessories. They don't want you to ever use anyone else's stuff -- always pay the Mac premium to talk only to Mac users in the Mac ecosystem.
Disgusting, and an affront to freedom. Oh yeah, before anyone says I'm overreacting and they are a company that can do what it wants -- sure. But just like the many here who complain about free-speech restrictions of private companies, etc., I will not stand by and cheer for "courageous" companies who couch their money making schemes in "but it's better for the customer!" I call BS.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday April 09 2019, @02:29PM
> I think you read the sentence wrong.
Apple sure said it badly, especially with that word "remove". They could have at least stuck to "replace" or "upgrade". Their choice of words says a lot of things along the lines of what you said. Apple is big and powerful, and can fire customers who don't want to change, and, yeah, pay more money for the latest gadgets.
Everyone is crazy for WiFi and portability, but the fact is, wired is more reliable and lots faster, and there's hardly any interference, no contention for channels, and batteries are still a lot of bother.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by isostatic on Tuesday April 09 2019, @12:32PM
I can see why some would prefer bluetooth. Certainly I like the fact my phone connects to my car without me thinking about it, so if I get a call it pops up on the speakers.
My phone as a 3.5mm jack though, so conflating "using bluetooth" with "removing 3.5mm" seems rather odd.