“On Tuesday corporate watchdog and activist site, SumOfUs.org, launched a petition demanding that Apple keep the standard sized headphone jack in the iPhone 7,” Jay McGregor writes for Forbes. “The campaign started with a modest goal of 10,000 signatures, with yesterday’s early count at around 3000. But in the last few hours the number of signatures jumped to over 167k at the time of writing and is showing few signs of slowing down. The rapid increase in support isn’t surprising considering the propensity of SumOfUs’ petitions to go viral in a short space of time. Their clever email campaigns often strike the right chord, at an opportune time, and require little more than a few clicks to show support.”
“Back in November, the Japanese blog Macotakara, citing a ‘reliable source’, claimed that the 3.5mm headphone jack would be removed, in favour of wireless headphones and an all-in-one Lightning connector for both connectivity and audio output,” McGregor writes. “And now, the Chinese websites Anzhuo.cn and Wei Feng have added fuel to the fire: citing supply chain news from unamed sources, they have claimed that Apple are removing the 3.5mm port and releasing its own wireless headphones.”
“Electronic waste is fast becoming one of the defining issues of our time, with smartphones already contributing a huge amount to the problem. Binning a long-standing and ubiquitous connector in favour of something proprietary won’t just exacerbate the issue, it will cause a surge,” McGregor reports. “As one of the world’s most popular smartphones, with a user-base in the hundreds of millions, any change to a connection that’s been present since the first iPhone, will force upgraders to buy new accessories and ditch the old stuff.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Idiocy.
SumOfUs.org is basically saying: We demand you retard progress because we’re too stupid to understand technological advancement!!!
Also, there’s such a thing as an adapter; you don’t chuck your current headphones/earbuds, you attach a small adapter. Done.
The standard 3.5mm jack is an anachronism and a design limiter that begs to die.
Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. – Steve Jobs
We’ve been using wireless Jaybirds for some time now (currently the Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones). They work perfectly with our Apple Watch and iPhone 6s Plus units.
As we wrote back in June 2014:
Bring. It. On.
Mac users are never wedded to old tech when there’s progress to be made.
Also, another good reason for the Beats buy. If Apple and Beats both change to Lightning headphones, the rest of the world will have to follow.
Of interest: Apple Inc.’s U.S. Patent No. 8,655,004: “Sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds and/or headsets.”
Apple’s patent abstract: A monitoring system that can be placed proximate to the head or ear of a user is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the monitoring system can be used with headphones, earbuds or headsets. The monitoring system can, for example, be used to monitor user activity, such as during exercise or sporting activities. The positioning of the monitoring system can also facilitate sensing of other user characteristics (e.g., biometric data), such as temperature, perspiration and heart rate. The monitoring system can also be used to control a an electronic device. In one embodiment, the monitoring system facilitates user control of the electronic device using head gestures. More info here.
From your ear to your wrist in the blink of an eye™.
SEE ALSO:
More reports claim Apple has dumped the 3.5mm headphone jack on iPhone 7 – January 5, 2016
Why Apple may axe the 3.5mm headphone jack – June 20, 2014
Apple may be poised to kill off the 3.5mm headphone jack – June 7, 2014
Apple may ditch analog 3.5mm headphone jack for Lightning to make thinner devices – June 6, 2014
Apple introduces MFi specs for Lightning cable headphones, iOS software update to deliver support – June 5, 2014
Apple preps HD audio for iOS 8 plus new Apple In-Ear Headphones and lightning cable – May 13, 2014
Apple patents biometric sensor-packed health monitoring earphones with ‘head gesture’ control – February 18, 2014
Apple paves way for more affordable iOS accessories with lower MFi and Lightning licensing fees – February 7, 2014
Apple should not be so secretive on this one. They should not “surprise us” on some keynote.
Tell us when, EXACTLY, the plan is to switch to thunderbolt or other type of connectivity.
There are thousands of product and companies that would need to either go out of business or prepaid new products.
Apple needs to consider the aftermarket.
Dear MDN, don’t be silly with your bold assessments about advancing technology. The 3.5 mm jack is critical for so many people and will continue to be for decades to come. I’m a musician and I often use my iPhone on stage to play samples through a PA system, not to mention it is how I connect with all my musical/sound equipment. You can’t possibly expect all the people who buy new iPhones to buy new stereo equipment, new mixing boards, or some half-assed piece of shit plastic adapter that Apple will sell for $50. In fact, I hosted a jam downtown last night, and one synthesizer player couldnt make it because he didn’t have a fucking camera connection kit for his iPad! How sad is this? What have we become? If this is the way of the future, then please, let’s stick with the past. Apple is losing their mind with all these “advancements” and becoming way too greedy with these adaptors and shit. the iPhone is slim enough. Without a 3.5mm jack, it becomes much more worthless to me, and many, many others.