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We used to have earbuds that don't need to be charged because they had a headphone jack, didn't get lost so easily because they had a cord attached to a headphone jack, never lost the bluetooth connection because they had a headphone jack, and they cost less because they had a headphone jack. https://bsky.app/profile/daisyfm.bsky.social/post/3l3mfjc6sn62k
There are USB-C headphones.
Which cannot connect to a phone unless it's unlocked, as accepting every USB-C connection carries security risks. They also require negotiation, which can fail at any time, meaning you have to unlock, disconnect, reconnect.
I also have a nice, external (and still cheap) DAC on my computer. It has a headphone jack. This means I need to be able to disconnect the USB-C dongle from my headphones, unless I want to have two separate headphones for my phone and my PC. By extension this requires me to go searching for the dongle from time to time.
I love USB-C. But the headphone jack had what companies and people claim to want: simplicity.
Headphone jacks solved a single but extremly common problem very well. USB-C provides a workaround for it.
In the before times, in the long long ago.
I'm only willing to buy a phone that has the jack, it reduces the selection, but I'm not willing to compromise on that. And someone gifted me some airpods recently (pro 2). Tried them out and they were ok I guess, but they also had too many downsides, so they sit on a shelf now. It's not a good enough alternative for me.
All the stories of people complaining about wire troubles as apologists for cell phone manufacturers read like scenes from an infomercial.
I'd gladly take a phone without a camera before I took one without a headphone jack.
You could also just pass the wire inside your shirt, there you go, no yanking on door knobs anymore. People just folding over backwards to defend the loss of choice is insanity, we lost the sd card slot and headphone jack on premium phone brands, and they STILL aren't waterproof, but an old ass Moto G3 that had both was actually waterproof.
I was so pissed when Apple took the 3.5mm jack because I knew the rest would follow, and they did.
OTOH, now that I've gone to the dark side, I listen to music more often and enjoy it more thoroughly because I'm not dealing with tangled cables or having them accidentally yanked out of my ears, and therefore I'm more likely to have my earbuds with me. (they are now always in a pocket in my backpack) I can even fairly comfortably go to sleep with them on, which I do often.
I understand the audiophile arguments, and I'm sure that even with Buds2 Pro, SSC, and some fairly painstaking attention to EQ/DSP settings I'm leaving something on the table. I don't care about whatever that something is. I haven't enjoyed music this much and this often since I was prepubescent.
I have nothing bad to say about anyone else's choices, but the rush to shit on bluetooth earbuds gets a little "I don't even own a TV" sometimes. (for folks old enough to remember that kinda snobby trope around Y2K or so)
Well the most annoying issue is that BT headphones work perfectly well with a phone or laptop that has the jack, it's not an either/or situation. So they were only removed to make you have to spend $200. The arguments about cost, durability or waterproofing are all nonsense.
Planned obsolescence at play here 😢 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
The luxuries that come from anything with a battery are great, but everything running a lithium-ion battery has its days numbered, and that's really unfortunate for the consumer and absolutely stellar for the business.
We used to have transportation that didn't need gas because horse, and didn't need expensive roads because horse, and never needed an oil change becuase horse, and they cost less because horse.
While the major issue with wireless earbuds is that they could easily be lost, I'd prefer that over the old wired earphones which gets tangled up or yanked accidentally. If you also buy good quality wireless earphones, you would never lose sound on either left or right earpiece, unlike with the wired ones which often happens no matter the quality. But I still keep my wired earphones as a backups in case I lose my more precious wireless earphones or breaks.
Oh my god how I hated those headphones with cable. I destroyed at least 3 phones because of them. I would have them in and walk and would want to do something on the phone and suddenly I'd get caught on the cable while moving and the cable would jerk the phone out of my hand and it would land on the asphalt and the screen would break. And fixing the screen is so expensive, it's better to buy a new phone, or just live with a broken screen where you cut your fingers on.
Since I switched to Bluetooth headphones this literary never happened again. And every single one of the problems described here has a fairly good solution, at least with the Samsung ones I have:
I need to charge them perhaps once every two weeks, so I really don't remember when they would have been without charge at a inconvenient time.
I can find them by several means:
They never lost Bluetooth connection, I can even connect them to two devices at the same time
The only point would be the cost, they do cost a lot more. But compared to buying a new phone constantly because the cable hangs somewhere and jerks the phone out of your hand, even this is undeniably cheaper.
The thing is, bluetooth is not a perfect solution. It drains battery, is patchy and has variable audio quality, creates yet another thing to remember to charge (children are rubbish at remembering so just end up blaring awful videos on long journeys for everyone to hear), you can have issues with connecting devices that are literally inches away, and crucially - they are not mutually exclusive. I currently have a Samsung A52S which has a 3.5mm jack as well as Bluetooth technology. Even phones 10 years ago offered both. They are just removing an option many people still opt to use - especially those who can't afford good quality expensive wireless headphones.
It is a cheap, universal option. Bluetooth technology is expensive and have diminishing battery performance. I've accidentally put £5 wired headphones through the wash before and still work perfectly. They last an entire plane trip UK to Australia without running out. If I am doing a task that requires my hands and don't want to snag, I have wireless ones I can use.
It's not something that needs replacing. I don't need my phone to be thinner than 3.5mm, I m going to put a chunky protective case on it regardless.
It's like getting rid of public transport because most people drive.
Yeah but have you ever gotten the cord caught on something and had the earbuds ripped from your ears? Instant rage.
Things that are cheap arent as financially successful as things that are not, even if the more expressive product offers a worse experience.
It's super undemocratic when megacorps or politicians can completely ignore & overrule more than 3/4 of the population & force them/us into something for the financial good of the few.
Eg like railroads, even fairly big corporations would/did prefer railroads directly to their factories, not to mention people traveling by train.
It was good but too cheap on every step.
And with minimal running costs compared to alternatives, so extra too cheap.
No car roads ever need to be more than one lane, for everything else (all the current extra lanes) there should be rail tracks giving the people freedom to not-drive at all, or the freedom to drive the last bit & otherwise park the car on a train cart.
...
And giving us and nature more space back, not having huge, wide scars all over the surface decimating, separating, and profoundly changing what's left of the ecosystems. And just not having too look and hear all the traffic & trucks is also nice, or being surrounded by huge paved-over surfaces.
And also, my peeps, fight the system with usb dacamps usb --> 3.5mm and/or 4.4mm (they start at ultra-cheap and even those are usually as good as most phones used to have):
