> And no human’s life is measurably better since Apple had the “courage” to remove the 3.5 mm jack. But a lot of our lives are just a little worse
Good old shortsightedness at play here. No one looks past this year or years to come when faced with changes. Here's what I think, based on history, is happening here:
# Wires are more bad than good for average consumer:
a. Neglected security based on assumption that since it's not wireless, it's immune to eavesdropping (think side-channel attacks). Wireless puts security upfront and center.
b. Cables get lost, break, are not long enough, are not compatible, damage the connectors, bad cables damage the device, cost extra, etc. Wireless doesn't.
c. Cables are cumbersome. They get tangled, you need to remember to carry them, have backups, etc.
d. Cables have short range.
Apple evidently cares quite a bit about user experience. Wires hurt user experience so they want to get rid of them, one by one. You can't push towards superfast, low power and generally more advanced mobile devices and accessories, if the industry has no reason to do so (because everything works and has for the past 50 years).
It's tiring reading every day how someone is upset because their favorite feature is gone because they can't see past their front door.
b. loss and breakage isn't a wired-exclusive problem
c. backups? so long as you bring backup wireless things as well, no worries
d. Fair enough, but long cables are possible, and in regards to a smart phone, most people carry it on their person so it's not generally a problem - although the freedom to roam about the house with your phone on the counter while you're vacuuming is advantageous in those particular scenarios. Pending wireless range.
A. Wireless security doesn't improve if everyone continues using wired accessories
B. So you replace your accessories as many times as their cables?
C. So you have one phone, headphone, etc for each cable you own? The reason people have backups or multiple cables is because of all the other issues: they get lost, cumbersome to carry around, etc
The problem is that all the issues you name are only marginally bad for the average consumer — there isn’t much motivation to move when the problem isn’t that bad for most. And most importantly all the issues you mention were already solvable with Bluetooth.
Dongles? I'm talking wireless headphones. Dongles to continue using a wired headphone is supposed to be worse experience so you come off it. Think of it as a transition period.
Good old shortsightedness at play here. No one looks past this year or years to come when faced with changes. Here's what I think, based on history, is happening here:
# Wires are more bad than good for average consumer:
a. Neglected security based on assumption that since it's not wireless, it's immune to eavesdropping (think side-channel attacks). Wireless puts security upfront and center.
b. Cables get lost, break, are not long enough, are not compatible, damage the connectors, bad cables damage the device, cost extra, etc. Wireless doesn't.
c. Cables are cumbersome. They get tangled, you need to remember to carry them, have backups, etc.
d. Cables have short range.
Apple evidently cares quite a bit about user experience. Wires hurt user experience so they want to get rid of them, one by one. You can't push towards superfast, low power and generally more advanced mobile devices and accessories, if the industry has no reason to do so (because everything works and has for the past 50 years).
It's tiring reading every day how someone is upset because their favorite feature is gone because they can't see past their front door.