That Apple wants their users to only use 'approved' peripherals with their stuff (i.e. only those from which they get a share of the profits) under the guise of 'user experience' and 'convenience' does not mean the rest of the world will suddenly give up on their analogue headphones. Apple users will be able to buy dongles (which have to be Apple-approved, so Apple will still get their share of the profits leading to higher prices which Apple-users are willing to bear to be part of that exclusive community) to connect their analogue headphones, the rest of the world will happily keep plugging those 3.5mm jacks into their phones and tablets and radios and other devices.
As an aside, what a strange creature is man that he wants to replace a device which is analogue by nature - ears not being digital after all - with a digital counterpart which is clearly sub-optimal, overly complex and fraught with potential restrictions. Meanwhile that same man will brag to his friends about the analogue turn table he purchased on which he plays his analogue records for that true analogue experience, claiming a much warmer sound that is clearly superior to that produced by digital players which 'chop the sound into bits which takes away from the experience'.
Except they clearly explained that they had interference problems with the new camera and the analogue jack, which they don't have by using a digital port. Conveniently, lightning was already there.
I agree the situation is not optimal, but please, stop this "they so greedy", "this is only for selling adapters" etc. After all, it's apple's product, and if it doesn't appeal to you, don't buy it.
As you have stated yourself, the rest of the industry might not even follow them here.
This kind of attitude isn't logical and is in fact extremely dangerous. It's the same argument as "if you don't have anything to hide, why do you mind being spied on by corporations and governments?"
It is entirely reasonable and in fact GOOD that people have strong opinions about things even if they do not personally interact or care about the actual thing. When an increasingly large amount of our society is shaped by Apple or Facebook or Google, their decisions affect everyone, even those not directly using those services or being customers.
Opinions matter. Don't tell people that they should shut up and ignore global implications because they themselves wouldn't buy the product.
If everybody is open about everything, the result is not that all spying/invasion ends. In fact, it doesn't really prevent anything (it makes those who were spying more powerful in fact - you've done their job for them.)
On the other hand, if nobody bought the products a company is selling, that company eventually goes out of business. Or finds that their products don't have a market fit, and adjust them accordingly.
I'm not a free-market-solves-everything type by any means, I just don't see how these can be considered "the same argument" at all.
(Though, I agree with your basic point that we should not only allow, but encourage discussion and opinions. At the root of it, I agree with where you're going.)
I'm definitely not trying to shut down opinions. It's perfectly fine to dislike the removal of the headphone jack.
However, I'm sick of people calling out Apple for being what it is: A capitalistic enterprise. Ultimately, of course they want to make more money. But they have clearly explained reasons other than "sell adapters" (which itself is kind of stupid, since they ship a free one with every iPhone). And after all, they don't control the market. Heck, here in Germany they don't even have 15% market share. It's not like they force the other 85% to drop the headphone jack.
Moving the DAC another centimeter or so from inside the phone to the Lightning plug isn't going to magically cure interference - at least, not when the device that's supposedly interfering is already at the opposite end of the phone. Apple's engineers aren't stupid. If they didn't get a working 3.5mm jack it's because they didn't want to.
>As an aside, what a strange creature is man that he wants to replace a device which is analogue by nature - ears not being digital after all - with a digital counterpart which is clearly sub-optimal, overly complex and fraught with potential restrictions
Well, if you're hearing it it's ultimately become analog. The question is where does it become analog. I can legitimately understand that many people would like that it happens at your ear and you don't have wires.
No, the conversion from digital to analogue can and should happen in the device itself to be able to use the analogue signal with the plethora of peripherals intended for this purpose, without any additional restrictions above those already in place. For those who want or need digital output this possibility already exists in more than one way - through USB and Bluetooth to give some examples - so this is not a valid argument to promote the omission of an analogue output. Nor is Apple's claim of interference from the camera or other on-board hardware valid, given the abundance of camera-equipped devices which have no problems with interference.
It does not take that much thought to see through the rhetoric and discern the true reason for omitting an analogue output, I'd even go so far as to claim that it takes more thought to remain wilfully ignorant of the fact that Apple simply wants more control over how, when and where to 'allow' the device to produce output.
If you think I'm arguing that it made sense to remove the analog output, you're mistaken. It's absurd to me. It's perfectly sensible however to want wireless headphones (or speakers), but Apple hasn't introduced anything new here in that regard.
I mean, I listen from digital output through my 6s probably 90% of the time since the built-in amp doesn't cut it, but I'm also finding this whole thing ridiculous. I'll certainly not be upgrading to a 7.
As an aside, what a strange creature is man that he wants to replace a device which is analogue by nature - ears not being digital after all - with a digital counterpart which is clearly sub-optimal, overly complex and fraught with potential restrictions. Meanwhile that same man will brag to his friends about the analogue turn table he purchased on which he plays his analogue records for that true analogue experience, claiming a much warmer sound that is clearly superior to that produced by digital players which 'chop the sound into bits which takes away from the experience'.
Bizarre, but profitable.