this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2024
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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

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[–] ansiz 1 points 3 days ago

What I hate is my car finally caught up and now has an aux jack for listening to audio from my phone but now my phone doesn't support it, so I still can't listen to anything on my phone in the car.

[–] i_give_u_worms 1 points 3 days ago

if you need to have a phone to fill out a job application then the whole thing needs to be available to someone at the poverty level and wireless earbuds are not a survival item, listening to music or speaking quietly is a pretty basic thing someone who can afford earphones in the four to nine dollar range should be able to attain

[–] Duamerthrax 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

This is how I feel about computer mice. Just some basic planning on cable layout and I don't to worry about batteries or connection issues.

[–] renzev 1 points 1 day ago

Wireless mice with dongles are still pretty neat. Virtually zero connection issues, just have to change the battery once in a while. Very useful if you don't have a fixed working space (e.g. college student constantly moving between different lecture halls and study spaces) and don't like using the laptop trackpad/trackpoint

[–] fishos -2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

What no one ever seems to say is that this is the exact opposite of being waste conscious. How do you think you keep outdated tech in your phone? It still has to be made somewhere, right? So somewhere a factory still has to be tooled up and making these parts instead of something else.

You often hear this complaint about the waste of old earbuds and them becoming trash, but what about the factories still making trash? Is a factory still making VHS tapes really benefiting the world? Or are you just making trash because you're nostalgic and can't let go?

Old wired earbuds were riddled with problems. They were a NIGHTMARE. So much so that selling cheap ones next to the gum in checkout lanes was commonplace and still is because they were basically considered disposable/limited lifetime. You often rated earbuds based on how long before they crapped out as the main feature. In their time they were already a huge waste product. Now that we've advanced past them for the most part, they're just trash that some people can't let go.

[–] renzev 1 points 1 day ago

Old wired earbuds were riddled with problems. They were a NIGHTMARE.

I'm still using wired headphones and earbuds extensively and not having any problems. This sounds like a skill issue to me.

So much so that selling cheap ones next to the gum in checkout lanes was commonplace and still is because they were basically considered disposable/limited lifetime.

Well now they're just making limited lifetime wireless earbuds. Cheap crap will always be made, it's a problem of societal scale. Manipulating the market and public opinion like phone companies did with headphone jacks is not a viable long-term solution for reducing waste.

[–] [email protected] 215 points 1 week ago (6 children)

But they did tangle all the time. That was annoying.

[–] stoly 144 points 1 week ago (3 children)

And the cord would sometimes break inside/connector went bad.

[–] [email protected] 87 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, you'd snag the wire or slightly bend the connector and then you were just playing a game of making sure it stayed plugged into the exact right angle.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 week ago

Had to make sure there has just the right tension on the left wire or you'd only get half the track. Bonus points for weirdly mixed stereo where that just sounded shit

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago (2 children)

and then you'd just replace them with one of the other three dozen you bought from Wal-Mart for five bucks back in 2016

[–] Viking_Hippie 42 points 1 week ago (41 children)

And people wonder how the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and others like it came to be 🤦

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 week ago

hey I'll have you know I keep all my broken earbuds in the same box in the garage with all the other cables and assorted dongles I can no longer identify and will likely never use, like any responsible citizen should

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[–] NiPfi 28 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah! That's why I loved Sennheiser IEMs, they had oval cables that never tangle up, no matter what you do. Still have a pair for my Switch

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[–] Noodle07 26 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Remember when they got stuck somewhere and yanked out of your ears? Somehow my Bluetooth headset don't get that because it has Bluetooth

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[–] [email protected] 160 points 1 week ago (19 children)

All these people saying they like wireless earphones are completely missing the point. Devices with headphones jacks can do both. Taking away the headphone jack means you have to rely on wireless earphones, which have all the issues the post describes.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

But Apple was so BRAVE when they removed the jack!

I wholeheartedly agree, I use Bluetooth most of the time, but I want wired to fall back on. When I'm on the go, bluetooth works just fine, but when I'm sitting down at home I prefer to use my full-size Roland headset on both my PC and my phone. No latency, and superior sound quality.

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[–] IzzyScissor 117 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (20 children)

It also destroyed the "pass the aux cord" when driving with friends.

"Hey, I want to show you a song. Pass the aux cord."

Plugs

Plays

Now:

"Hey, I want to show you a song. Let me connect to your car's Bluetooth."

"Oh, I can't while the car is driving. Can you pull over for a minute?"

"Which submenu was is it in? Bluetooth or Settings?"

"Do you mind if I remove one of the devices already connected?"

"Oh, it just auto-connected to your phone instead."

"Here, I'll just send you a link."

"Your phone locked. Can you enter your password again?"

"Oh, you don't have [streaming service] premium? We'll have to sit through an ad first."

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 week ago (13 children)

I feel a cold and detached anger, reading that.

Still can't get my honda to Bluetooth.

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[–] [email protected] 93 points 1 week ago (11 children)

What do you mean used to? I still do. IEMs with replaceable cables are nigh on indestructible.

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[–] [email protected] 81 points 1 week ago (19 children)

I've thrown away so many headphones because the cable frayed though. There's always some downsides.

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[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 62 points 1 week ago (3 children)

They also didn't add an extra layer of compression between the player and your ears - because they had a fucking headphone jack and wires that could transmit audio data without compression.

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[–] Ensign_Crab 61 points 1 week ago (3 children)

On the other hand, bluetooth headphones never catch on a doorknob and yank out of your ears

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 week ago

On the other other hand, we already had the option of choosing Bluetooth headphones back when most phones still offered headphones jacks.

Truth is, there are obviously pros and cons of each, but it just sucks that we no longer have the choice without jumping through extra hoops.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Meh. I don't miss getting the cord caught on door handles and having the earbuds violently yanked from my ears!

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (22 children)

I didn't believe the hype about wireless headphones until I bought some with noise cancelling and all that for around $130.

Pros:

1 - You don't realize how "tethered" you feel on older headphones until you really try to use wireless headphones. There's a certain freedom you feel when you realize you can place your phone on a hotel table but lie down in bed.

2 - Noise cancelling and noise passthrough is a transformative experience when travelling or find yourself abroad. Airports are much easier to feel relaxed in when 80% of the noise or so can be filtered out as you wait for your flight to board. Additionally, the flight experience is less annoying (no engine drone gets through, even passengers can mostly be ignored) but you still have the option for pass through if someone absolutely needs to talk to you.

3 - Many of these headphones come with some kind of EQ feature, which can occasionally mean that you get speakers with more tunability and thus slightly better bang-for-buck that works globally across apps.

4 - Audio quality. Since these are expensive drivers, you're often going to get better sound quality than those cheap 30 dollar throw aways were ever going to give.

Cons:

1 - Latency. These things could never be used in professional audio situations other than listening to a pre-rendered song for quality judgements. I don't thing gaming would be nice with these either, even if I've tried (and failed) to play counter strike on these on occasion to keep noise levels down.

2 - Mic quality of the built in is lacking on my particular headphones (Sennheiser CX Plus). They're really only intended to capture the outdoor for noise cancellation IMO, not the greatest for calls or recordings. They're servicable, but it's the area I'd like the most upgrade (and it would probably improve noise cancellation features as well.)

3 - Environmental / Sustainability Concerns: Other than people just "losing" these devices with built in batteries that are bad for the environment being a problem in and of itself, there are other long-standing concerns I have about these devices. They often require proprietary non-open software to configure, meaning if the software gets delisted, you will no longer be able to configure them until someone comes up with some kind of alternative using reverse engineering (good luck). Batteries are likely to degrade over time, meaning you'll eventually end up with a worthless ear bud on the left or right and the only solution will be to throw them out. These things are often pretty bad scoring on repairability metrics, and I can't even blame the companies producing them here because they're so small.

4 - Despite passthrough being a feature, it's hard to convey to people that you can actually hear them through the device. There should be some kind of blinking light on the outside that indicates that passthrough is enabled or something.

So I actually do love these devices, but #3 of the cons is really the biggest real issue I have with them. If they're going to cost over 100 dollars, I would like to know that these things won't just become ewaste in the same way that cheap crappy wired headphones end up being as well (which sea life often chokes on or gets tangled up in.) If they costs a premium, I would really like to know that they aren't a figurative dead end when they eventually fail.

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[–] Logical 55 points 1 week ago (15 children)

Tbh I like the convenience of not being physically attached to my phone when listening to music. That said, the removal of headphone jacks from phones is a disgrace.

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[–] Sam_Bass 52 points 1 week ago (10 children)

And they knotted up in your pocket/purse

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 week ago

Poor cable management. Skill issue. Level up.

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[–] sumguyonline 44 points 1 week ago (9 children)

All this romanticizing the past, but who members having to play with the jack until it was just the right in and out to get full stereo. I member. Who members breaking a wire for the left speaker only, so you only have right audio. I member

[–] AVengefulAxolotl 60 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

The real problem is that new phones dont have it, while there are actually people who use it.

To be honest i dont use it either, but i still prefer having it. Just in case you know? Phones without it did not get cheaper after all...

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[–] ZeffSyde 43 points 1 week ago (3 children)

A friend was complaining that he was always losing his air pods. I told him about my awesome idea to sell a little cord that would connect them so they were easier to keep track of.

He was like, 'Dude! That's a great idea... You've got to start selling those before someone beats you to it-'

Then it dawned on him and he called me an asshat.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Last time I used wired headphones on my old phone, I was riding a bike. One of the buds slipped out of my ear and got caught in the front wheel, dragging my phone out of my pocket and smashing the screen. 10/10

[–] Plopp 25 points 1 week ago

I wish I could watch a video of that.

Also, headphone cords go under clothing when doing activities like that.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I got some wireless headphones and now I keep leaving my phone behind.

Because I hear music, I assume my phone is in my pocket and sometimes it isn’t.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago (19 children)

These jacks are still in every other audio device. They were removed from phones to force BT usage, which Google needs for their profiling telemetry network and Apple for their Find my Device thing. God forbid someone turns BT off or even decides they would prefer a phone without BT entirely. There is no other reason and how people prefer to listen to music has nothing to do with the subject.

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[–] FlashZordon 26 points 1 week ago (5 children)

The ease of pairing Bluetooth headphones lately is pretty nice as well as not having to run a wire up my shirt to avoid snagging.

I do look back kind of fondly on physically plugging in my headphones and just having it work.

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[–] obinice 25 points 1 week ago (4 children)

What do you mean used to?

That's still what I use. I have seen people using the wireless ones though, they seem quite popular at the moment.

I'm just not sold on the idea of earphones that have planned obsolescence built in, and require Bluetooth.

My current earphones are fab, I've been using them for 10 years now, and they plug in to everything and work with everything.

Why downgrade to something that'll have a ruined battery after 2 years, doesn't work with most stuff, and let's also not forget sometimes doesn't work at all because the battery might need charging.

My wired earphones have not once refused to work for any reason, period.

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[–] Madrigal 25 points 1 week ago (25 children)

And they used to get tangled on everything all the time, got caught on things all the time, frayed and wore out all the time, had janky connectors that had to be jiggled to sit in just the right position to get stereo sound, and got tied in knots when you put them away not matter how carefully you wound them.

There’s a reason everyone is using Bluetooth now, gramps.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 week ago (10 children)

This issue is solely the fault of capitalism. By removing choice you are forced to by a more premium product, but you're advertised it by all the supposed benefits: one less external opening on the phone, no more tangled headphones, no more dealing with headphones that only work when the cord is plugged in just right, no more chance of your headphone port going bad.

They skip over the fact that most of these issues are directly problematic because of cost cutting and designed obsolescence (aka engineered lifetimes). The opening is one thing, but headphones tangle in pockets easily because they use such thin flimsy cords. Same thing goes for cords breaking in the lining and only working at certain angles: a more robust cord would be less prone to issues.

On top of this, the entire designs of phones not having repairability in mind is the only reason that a headphone port breaking is a big deal. If they were designed to be disassembled with replacement parts being readily available, it wouldn't be an issue. They could even make the ports more robust to decrease failure rate.

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