← Back to context

Comment by jyrkesh

3 years ago

I'd say the one exception here is removing the headphone jack. I'm still really salty about that one. Even as a Pixel owner...the downstream ecosystem effect was everyone removing the headphone jack. And most Android phones didn't even get the waterproofing benefits!

Bluetooth just STILL isn't there from a reliability perspective. Even with the latest Gen 2 AirPods, I talk to friends who continue have sporadic stuff where a single bud cuts out, or you have to reconnect to get the mic working, or etc. etc... Just give me a damn analog plug and let me hear/talk!

Anecdotally, I haven't had any problems of the problems you describe on the latest AirPods Pro. And I like the ability to wander the house without dragging my MacBook Pro around -- I can get surprisingly far away before it starts to cut out. It's not perfect, mind you; on rare occasions they won't connect to my phone at all, requiring a restart, but once connected they're fine. And one time the left and right AirPods became veerryy slightly desynced, which was a bit trippy ...

The main problem I have with bluetooth is that some devices make it kind of a pain to connect. It's not a huge deal, but it's not as simple or as quick as simply plugging in a cable.

You know there are:

- usb C headphones

- Lightning headphones

- lightning to Audio adapters

  • I'm aware, but it's just one more thing to carry, keep track of, break, lose, etc.

    Except in the case of USB-C headphones, but I like to be able to use my headphones with _any_ device, and not just a USB-C device. Plus, it turns out that headphones like my bluetooth Sony...XM3 or whatever...they _have_ USB-C for charging, but you can't actually use that interface for anything but charging. In fact, they don't even support BT while plugged in.

    Plus, given I like to use analog headphones for my PC and home receiver, it's frustrating the way that the ecosystem has been bifurcated according to all these lines. E.g. if the headphones I want to buy are USB-C only, now I need a USB-C -> analog adapter as well in order to plug them into my stereo.