15th September 2016, 6:38 AM
(This post was last modified: 15th September 2016, 7:27 AM by Dark Jaguar.)
Your points about the drawbacks of CDs are all true, and noted, but nothing negates the singular capacity advantage that CDs had over floppy disks. The choice basically comes down to "will this file actually fit on this disk?". Yes, backup programs let you spread an archive across multiple floppies, but now you've just replaced my choice between one CD and 30 or so floppy disks. All in all though, both decay too fast. Bit rot is pretty bad in both formats, neither one ever even being meant to use for archiving for as long as people have. I mean, there are very expensive "archival" writable optical discs, but there's that "very expensive" part. Frankly, for archival purposes, Flash wins once again. Eventually, flash can be written to enough for it to die, but if you just use it for storage after writing to it once, it'll last longer than I will.
Also, initial reviews say the lightning to audio jack adapter actually makes the audio quality worse than before. (This is subject to revision, because audiophiles and their madness exist.)
This highlights the main difference between the audio jack removal and the floppy drive removal.
Incidentally, I've had access to bluetooth wireless headsets for years now. If I really wanted to, I could simply go that route, and even use that solution on my current consoles and PC (just stuck a wireless card in there, which among other things enables bluetooth). I have very good reason not to. For one, all the convenience of carrying around wireless headphones is instantly negated by the additional need to carry around a charging station for said wireless headphones. Secondly, no one has ever actually been inconvenienced by headphone wires. If anything, all it did was make sharing the same song between two people a bit tougher, but in an adorable match-making kind of way. At worst, the cords get tangled. At least that issue has a clear and present solution most functional adults can manage, unlike bluetooth synching issues, which require your entire family to bug you at ungodly hours for a solution you probably won't be able to find, let alone explain, over the phone.
In short, everything was fine. There was nothing that needed fixing. Just stick the audio jack in there and eat the costs for all eternity like you're supposed to. You can afford it, you're Apple. You regularly charge twice the price for the same hardware sold by others because you get to charge the Apple tax.
Additional observation: The lightning jack is "reversible" in exactly one way, a binary flip. The audio jack was "omnireversible", and could be inserted at literally any rotation. Additionally, the added wires the audio jack has obtained over the years (first to make it stereo, then to add a line for microphone and a line for button input) mean digital signals can just be added to that standard. Heck, add a bunch of really tiny "rings" near the very top meant entirely for USB C compatible connections. No signal would be sent down the cable (garbling the audio in incompatible headphones) unless the headphones first send a negotiating signal up the line to the device. Combine that with the smallest form factor of that jack, you have a space saver, and heck, the USB C connector might as well just BE on the old aux connector at that point. Wouldn't that be something?
Also, initial reviews say the lightning to audio jack adapter actually makes the audio quality worse than before. (This is subject to revision, because audiophiles and their madness exist.)
This highlights the main difference between the audio jack removal and the floppy drive removal.
Incidentally, I've had access to bluetooth wireless headsets for years now. If I really wanted to, I could simply go that route, and even use that solution on my current consoles and PC (just stuck a wireless card in there, which among other things enables bluetooth). I have very good reason not to. For one, all the convenience of carrying around wireless headphones is instantly negated by the additional need to carry around a charging station for said wireless headphones. Secondly, no one has ever actually been inconvenienced by headphone wires. If anything, all it did was make sharing the same song between two people a bit tougher, but in an adorable match-making kind of way. At worst, the cords get tangled. At least that issue has a clear and present solution most functional adults can manage, unlike bluetooth synching issues, which require your entire family to bug you at ungodly hours for a solution you probably won't be able to find, let alone explain, over the phone.
In short, everything was fine. There was nothing that needed fixing. Just stick the audio jack in there and eat the costs for all eternity like you're supposed to. You can afford it, you're Apple. You regularly charge twice the price for the same hardware sold by others because you get to charge the Apple tax.
Additional observation: The lightning jack is "reversible" in exactly one way, a binary flip. The audio jack was "omnireversible", and could be inserted at literally any rotation. Additionally, the added wires the audio jack has obtained over the years (first to make it stereo, then to add a line for microphone and a line for button input) mean digital signals can just be added to that standard. Heck, add a bunch of really tiny "rings" near the very top meant entirely for USB C compatible connections. No signal would be sent down the cable (garbling the audio in incompatible headphones) unless the headphones first send a negotiating signal up the line to the device. Combine that with the smallest form factor of that jack, you have a space saver, and heck, the USB C connector might as well just BE on the old aux connector at that point. Wouldn't that be something?
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)