As you remember, I wrote a review about the upcoming Apple iPhone 7. Unlike iPhone predecessors, the iPhone 7 won’t have a headphone jack for earphones of any kind. They’re not alone. Everywhere you go, new technology kills old jack.
The iPhone 7 isn’t the first to start this new technological trend. Moto was the first American smartphone without a headphone jack. The new and sleek Moto Z Droid comes without a jack. Smartphone companies in China are taking the headphone jack out of their smartphones. Let’s look at why they want to get rid of the historic headphone jack. One reason is the headphone jack is so historic. It’s been around since the mid-1960s.
The first radio to have one was the Sony EFM-117J. That radio was first released in 1964. Since then, it’s been a critical part of portable radio. In the 1970s, we used the jack on 8-tracks. For the ’80s and ’90s, it was the Walkman; in the ’90s and 2000s, it was the CD Discman, and now, the smartphone. In the eyes of many tech leaders, the jack is 1960s technology on 2010s devices. Plus, phones are getting thinner, thanks to public demand. These phones are getting too thin for the jack. The headphone jack is 3.5 millimeters thick, the thickest part of a smartphone today.
So why should we keep the headphone jack?
How are we going to listen to our music in our cubicle without distracting a colleague? I’m on a bus, plane, or train. How do I watch movies on my smart device without distracting the person next to me? Technology has an answer for that too. Wireless Bluetooth headphones sales are going up, up, and up. Apple has earbugs that plug into the the charging jack. Personally, earbugs are too small for my taste. I still like my older earphones. I guess I could plug them into a charging or USB-jack with an adapter. But that just sounds like too much hassle. But I am glad there are other options, like Bluetooth headphones. What alternatives would you recommend to replace the headphone jack?