Latest infuriating tech trend

@fraggle

._.

@fraggle this feels the Amnesia The Dark Descent of the engineering world.

@fraggle entirely self-inflicted tbh, by not making your device work with normal or unlicensed headphones, you invite these kind of solutions to exist

@charlotte @fraggle Not exactly self-inflicted as it's not Apple that's the victim here.

@fraggle I've been aware of this for a while, eBay is full of cheap lightning-3.5mm adaptors that mention requiring Bluetooth to be on. What's weird to me is the author of the post blames the manufacturers and wants Apple to crack down - when this fundamentally Apple's fault for removing a simple, standard audio interface that doesn't require expensive Apple-approved chips from their phone. You should just be able to plug any old headphones into a phone! That's how it used to work!

@jimbob yes& the author also makes clear that the reason they do this is to circumvent restrictions apple has put in in the first place (presumably patents)

@fraggle

I had a friend who once used wifi to connect a micro controller to an LED **on the same PCB** in one of his projects and I still make fun of him for it. (he didn't want to have a wire visible or run a path)

I wonder if there are other instances of wireless communication within perfectly wire-able devices in the wild.

Big Clive needs to be sent some of these monstrosities to take them apart!

@charlotte @fraggle

If you dislike Apple for their failings why alienate some who is criticizing them by implying everything is their fault, or that such nonsense is avoidable with any large company?

IDK I'm just tired of this genre of comment.

(although I may be guilty of making this kind of comment about people complaining about social media "if you weren't on twitter you wouldn't have that problem..." )

This is a bad nerd thing that many of us do. It's counterproductive IMO.

@futurebird @fraggle apple could “do something about this” by using open standards like everyone else. if they had a problem with this category of product it would be entirely their own fault

@futurebird hah, +1 for Big Clive, this is right up his street

@fraggle

we must tell him about this!

@futurebird @charlotte @fraggle but apple doesn’t suffer from this, end users do

@enby_of_the_apocalypse @futurebird @fraggle Apple does in a way suffer from this since it is an obvious attempt to avoid paying apple royalty

meanwhile the users can use the headphones just fine. it trips tech savvy folks up because that’s not how wired headphones are supposed to work but indeed, it does work.

also it probably bears mentioning that iphones are luxury devices in most of the world due to the lack of affordable offerings. accessories to luxury devices are always overpriced (see apple’s own offerings!). devices that are common in these markets do not have these issues (as they simply have a headphone jack or use usb type c)

@enby_of_the_apocalypse @fraggle @futurebird is it scummy to sell it for 14 bucks? i suppose, but apple isn’t any better here

@charlotte @fraggle @futurebird perhaps apple shouldn’t charge for that… and also are old used iPhones really luxury devices?

@enby_of_the_apocalypse @fraggle @futurebird
Apple charges for it because they were allowed to do it. they removed the headphone jack not out of necessity, but because they can’t receive royalty payments for it. The latest iphone now just supports usb headphones because their hand has been forced.

And used iphones still don’t really begin to scratch the market share of the oses of cheaper phones, not just android, in poorer countries

@charlotte @fraggle @futurebird I agree with that. And idk what it’s like in poor countries, so I was wondering how much used iPhones make it there. I’ve been using them because they tend to work well for longer than most android devices, and because due to my family using apple stuff I’m kind of locked into their walled garden. But I guess used ones are still expensive enough to end up in the hands of people in richer countries like me rather than there.

@futurebird @charlotte @fraggle

> If you dislike Apple for their failings why alienate some who is criticizing them by implying everything is their fault, or that such nonsense is avoidable with any large company?

I read the comment as a criticism of Apple, not the OP.

But it's possible that the instructions/packaging for the devices clearly documented how they work. (The OP was in a rush before catching a plane.)

I see these devices as a clever workaround.

@futurebird @charlotte @fraggle

I'll also add that Apple's tax on interoperability is the same for devices sold in South America as it is for devices sold in North America or Europe.

But most people in South America cannot afford North American or European prices for ear buds.

So they use cheaper products with workarounds.

@futurebird @charlotte @fraggle

Part of the appeal of Apple products is that it is a designer brand, like Gucci or Armani.

Designer brands encourage grey market sales (used, older models or imports from cheaper countries), lookalikes and counterfeits, especially in places where people have less money.

If Apple pushes back too hard in grey markets in those places, fewer people will use their products there.

@rrwo @futurebird @charlotte @fraggle See also mobile telephony. Nobody wanted a phone without a keyboard until Apple made it cool, then suddenly you couldn't get one with.

@RogerBW @rrwo @futurebird @charlotte A big step backwards in retrospect. Even though there used to be the phenomenon of "Blackberry addicts" they were probably statistically the first ones to ditch them for the iPhone

And then Blackberry started making phones without keyboards as well which showed that they really didn't know what they were doing or how to respond