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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?
Related: New Moto Z Omits Analog Headphone Jack; Adds Moto Mods
Bring Back the Headphone Jack: Why USB-C Audio Still Doesn't Work
Apple on the Decline
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bussdriver on Tuesday April 09 2019, @01:48PM
You had and can still have BOTH allowing the user the FREEDOM to CHOOSE and having to pay $$$ is not freedom but they sure would love the suckers to believe it is.
Furthermore, "poor man" is a slander. Aside from it not being relevant, somebody who has such a new smart phone is not poor in the first place, you're doing your part in promoting the envy economy where fashion matters (it never matters but that is an uphill battle I won't go into.)
I never will fall for the marketing of screwing myself like that... being a gullible sucker should be more undesirable than in being in fashion...
I do not want complex WASTEFUL devices where I have to recharge them constantly, they are designed to be a subscription. If corded devices required as more effort they would be bashed heavily for that but because they are simple and reliable (and in the past, worked better too) all the problems of the newer technology are conveniently ignored by the early adopters who are emotionally biased; then try to spread that onto the mainstream while the bugs are worked out. Even refined and accepted, doesn't mean that it is best. What happens is that there is momentum to brand loyalty and if habituation can result you can boil a lot of frogs.