A couple hours before I was on the edge of getting a Fairphone 5 but I read the specifications and didn’t see 3.5 mm audio jack anywhere. So I thought to myself…why? The community has been requesting this for a couple years ago now so why not. They’re already making money on the phone, they’re really pushing for people to get their wireless headphones? Just add the headphone jack, shouldn’t be too hard.
They said they’re treating their workers fairly, sourcing from ethical sources, renewable claims, repairability claims, and supporting foss projects (they donated a fp4 to CalyxOS to support development). All of these are amazing, so adding a little headphone jack shouldn’t be that hard in the grand scheme of all this.
*Add the headphone jack and I’ll be happy to support and get a fp5.
And once more it turns into an argument about definitions… I thought it was clear from context, but I’m using “obsolete” here to mean “old fashioned” or “outdated”, a perfectly viable way to use the word “obsolete” if you ask me… And I mainly used it because as I mentioned, this discussion was settled with the previous fairphone… Perhaps a better word to use is redundant and/or outdated.
The jack has been THE standard for decades, arguably centuries… Frankly, I am surprised how fast the smartphone world switched. But of course it doesn’t disappear over night, but that doesn’t make it any less outdated/obsolete or whatever word you want to use here… And there will still be viable headphones with the 3.5 mm audio jack, just not in the smartphone world… That’s why I wrote “the standard is obsolete when it comes to modern smartphones”…
The 3.5 mm jack is going to disappear from the smartphone world completely. Will it still be useful in some other cases? Sure, I don’t see a viable replacement in some parts of the audio world. But in the smartphone world, where every single mm has an impact, it is, in my opinion, simply obsolete, especially when you already have other interfaces built in that essentially can do the same thing already… It’s just additional space being used that is not needed…
It already is a standard and it has been a standard for almost 10 years by now…
Of course they did, nobody wanted to be first to challenge a standard that was always the norm with portable devices, but no smartphone manufacturer wants a plug in their device that is unnecessary or redundant, which is why most followed once the first major player made the move.
Because at the end of the day, it’s useless space… And I get it, switching a standard, especially a standard that is so widely used, is always annoying for some time-period. But the switch started 7 years ago…
No, people complain because it’s a change and change is annoying… There is no actual loss of function, the audio jack doesn’t have any function that USB doesn’t have.
Well, I think you’re simply wrong. I remember when PC makers stopped including floppy disk readers in the computers. Everyone just shrugged because no one was using them any more. Same happened when laptops and cars stopped including CD players. Same with many different ports and connectors. This is how it should be done: you introduce new, better standards, people switch and when it’s actually obsolete (no one is using it any more) you remove it. People were (and are) still using mini jacks and companies simply decided to force the new standard on people. That’s why people complain.
I think there is a fair argument to be made that back when apple pushed away from it, it was forced. I personally didn’t care, but I understand why some people did.
But that’s not what we are talking about, we are talking about today… What’s done is done…
Most people weren’t and certainly aren’t… The people who still cling to the jack never seem to understand this, but most smartphone users simply don’t care about audio quality on their phone… Most people don’t even listen to music on their phone… And among those who do, most don’t care or even notice the loss of quality with wireless… And for the few who care, there are alternatives, such as adapters…
And just as a reminder, we are talking about the upcoming fairphone 5, a device that has the goal of lasting 10 years… There is no reasonable justification for putting a port on it that has by now virtually disappeared from the smartphone market and that most people would never use…
Wow, that’s a bold statement. After a quick ddg:
So yeah, ‘most people don’t listen to music on their phones’ is only true in the sense that most people in the world don’t own a phone. Lots and lots of people actually do it. I think you’re looking at yourself and thinking that everyone is using a phone the same way you do. In reality people were used to just plugging their headphones into heir phone and now they can’t. New standard was pushed on them and the only reason was to make some extra money on AirPods. Are the phones without mini jack cheaper? No. Are the USB headphones better? No. So yeah, people will move on in the end but they are right to complain. If we don’t companies will just do it again.
If you think that it is a bold statement you absolutely live in a bubble…
Most people in the world do own a phone… About 75% of the global population… It’s just that most use it to access the internet, write mails or, you know, call people…
As your study says, young people do listen to music on their phones. It even surprises me a bit that they only listen to 44% of their music on their phone, but otherwise, no objection. But not every smartphone user is a young person… And even those that do use their phone to listen to music, not all of them listen with headphones. Many use it to play music in their car, or connect it to speakers, or even use their built in speakers, etc.
I used to, but the thing is, I do actually listen to music on my phone. Not as much as I used to, but I still do from time to time. And many in my immediate environment do too. But overtime, I realized that most people don’t use their phone the same way I do, especially older people and non-technical savy people. Most listen to music in their car, or on the radio.
In reality, most people simply did not really care very much… And more importantly, virtually nobody cares today…
Correct, and virtually everyone just shrugged and accepted it because most people did not care all that much…
My dude, people have already moved on years ago… Apple removed the jack in 2017… Which is why I think it’s ridiculous that people still act as if this is a controversial issue, let alone a dealbreaker, looking towards the future…
OK, so a quoter of all music consumed everywhere is consumed on the phone but you still claim that people don’t use phones for music. I mean, if that’s your point of view then obviously you will say that nothing related to music on phones matters. If you ignore all the people that care about an issue you will conclude that no one cares. Even though obviolsy a lot of people still care…
But I have never claimed that “people don’t use phones for music”, I claimed that most people don’t use their phone to listen to music on their headphones… Many do, me included, but most simply don’t…
But I don’t conclude that nobody cares… Obviously at least some people care, this post was made by somebody who does for example… But the thing is that a majority of people don’t…
You keep making the same point: majority/most people didn’t care so it’s ok. I get it. You have a different standard. If a corporation can get away with something because most people will still blindly buy it’s product it’s ok for them to do it. But for me what Apple did was wrong. Mini jack was not obsolete, significant (for me, I know not significant enough for you) number of people were still using it and their decision didn’t result in a better or cheaper product. It just made them more money while removing important feature for a lot of people (again, I know, not enough for you to care). And I simply try not to reward such behavior. Even you admitted they only did it for profit, not to deliver better product but you just don’t care. That’s fine, just don’t criticize people that do care. It costs as little to protest (by avoiding companies that do the same) and we’ll do it as long as we can.
You made a claim that I wrote something I didn’t write, do you expect me to just let you put words into my mouth?
The vast majority of people interested in the fairphone have “a different standard”…
Ok, great, you have an opinion. An opinion I can completely understand. What does it have to do with this post though?
It wasn’t. But it’s not 2017 anymore…
Of course they did, why else would they do it, they are a company.
I will criticize whoever I want because it’s fucking annoying to have the self-rightous jack defenders pretend martyrers proudly proclaim that they will sacrifice themself and not buy the newest fairphone because “fairphone went against community demands” and act as if they are the majority and represent the views of “the community” IN 2023…
They don’t… Most people in the fairphone community didn’t care about the jack back when it was removed… Most members of the community preferred a slimmer phone to a headphone jack back when the last fairphone was released. And despite of this, you still had some loud-mouths who acted as if their opinions alone represent “the community”, ignored all the discussion in the community and claimed that fairphone acted against community interest.
And as “a member of the fairphone community”, I didn’t say anything, like most who don’t care about the jack, because I don’t care about the jack, I care about being able to change parts, I care about it lasting for many years and I care about it being small enough to fit in my pocket comfortably.
That was years ago, back when the fairphone decided to do this. And now, the upcoming model doesn’t bring it back (to the surprise of virtually nobody) and you have the same wannabe martyrers saying stuff like “just bring it back, how hard can it be, the community demands it”… No, the community doesn’t demand it… The community demands a modular and long lasting phone that is slim and cheap at the same time…
Do whatever pointless posturing you want, just don’t act as if you are in the majority or represent all of a community when you don’t…