ghandi9

with an apple-esque “you are doing it wrong” attitude

You make it seem as if it was just apple that wants to get rid of the 3.5mm jack in the smartphone market, which is simply not true.. I don't care for apple at all and I don't see what apple has to do with this discussion.. That discussion has already been had, back when the fairphone 4 was released, but some people still make the exact same arguments as in the years before..

focusing on the actual subject matter - the 3.5mm jack itself

The subject isn't whether the 3.5mm jack itself is a viable standard.. The subject is if it is a viable standard for modern smartphones.. And by now, the direction is clear..

I don't see the 3.5mm jack disappearing completely anytime soon, but in the modern smartphone world, I don't see a reason why we should cling to the 3.5mm jack when we already have USB as a standard that has the same functionality.. Especially now, when the switch has already happened..

Here’s why I don’t feel as if bluetooth or dongles are an appropriate replacement

Great, but can you also tell me why USB cable headphones are not an appropriate replacement? This is what I find so frustrating about this discussion, people always pretend that the options are either keeping the 3.5 mm headphone jack forever or using bluetooth headphones..

How is it obsolete, I understand a lot of people not needing it but all Audiophile products

In my opinion, it's obsolete or outdated standard when it comes to modern smartphones.

I’d rather have that instead of a additional adapter to connect my iems.

Of course adapters are not an optimal solution, but again, USB headphones are a thing.. I definitely see the argument for wired headphones over wireless headphones, but I don't see a reason why we should use 3.5 mm audio when we can simply use USB, which is an interface that is already the standard..

obsolete (adjective) No longer in use.

And once more it turns into an argument about definitions.. I thought it was clear from context, but I'm using "obsolete" here to mean "old fashioned" or "outdated", a perfectly viable way to use the word "obsolete" if you ask me.. And I mainly used it because as I mentioned, this discussion was settled with the previous fairphone.. Perhaps a better word to use is redundant and/or outdated.

The fact that I can go to literally any electronics store and choose from dozens of different 3.5mm jack headphones

The jack has been THE standard for decades, arguably centuries.. Frankly, I am surprised how fast the smartphone world switched. But of course it doesn't disappear over night, but that doesn't make it any less outdated/obsolete or whatever word you want to use here.. And there will still be viable headphones with the 3.5 mm audio jack, just not in the smartphone world.. That's why I wrote "the standard is obsolete when it comes to modern smartphones"..

The 3.5 mm jack is going to disappear from the smartphone world completely. Will it still be useful in some other cases? Sure, I don't see a viable replacement in some parts of the audio world. But in the smartphone world, where every single mm has an impact, it is, in my opinion, simply obsolete, especially when you already have other interfaces built in that essentially can do the same thing already.. It's just additional space being used that is not needed..

Yes, with time more and more people will buy USB-C headphones, it will become a standard

It already is a standard and it has been a standard for almost 10 years by now..

phones makers, following Apples stupid idea, started doing it first.

Of course they did, nobody wanted to be first to challenge a standard that was always the norm with portable devices, but no smartphone manufacturer wants a plug in their device that is unnecessary or redundant, which is why most followed once the first major player made the move.

Why start removing jack where they are used the most?

Because at the end of the day, it's useless space.. And I get it, switching a standard, especially a standard that is so widely used, is always annoying for some time-period. But the switch started 7 years ago..

People complain because with phones they are losing function

No, people complain because it's a change and change is annoying.. There is no actual loss of function, the audio jack doesn't have any function that USB doesn't have.

The headphone jack is an inexpensive small connector

It's still an unnecessary addition to modern smartphones that has an impact on design, etc..

offers far better quality than bluetooth does

And once again, you ignore what I wrote in my comment and try to turn this discussion into a discussion about "wires vs wireless/bluetooth" when it's obviously not..

As for the usb adapters, those are an extra point of failure and easy to misplace.

If using an adapter is too much of a hassle for you, get a wired USB headphone.. It's funny, you pretend that the only viable options are either bluetooth or an obsolete standard. We already have a new standard.. We had it for decades now.. And it's already built into and used with virtually any modern smartphone. But no, because you are used to your old standard, you demand that the old standard is still used in addition to the new standard..

If Sony can keep the jack on all their devices

This isn't about what we could and couldn't do.. We could go back to using cassettes if we wanted to, there just isn't a good enough reason to do it as far as most people are concerned..

Look at your comment, you can't give me a good reason for your argument. Your only argument is "but it's not that much of a hassle" and "everyone used it in the past so we should continue using it"..

You don’t like the jack? You can just keep using bluetooth.

I can just use bluetooth, or I can just use USB. So can you.

But can you give me one argument why we should, in addition to having both bluetooth and USB interfaces on our smartphones, have an additional plug using a standard from the 1950s that we can ONLY use for audio when we already have to have a USB plug that can also be used for audio?

There’s not such a thing like ethical consume under capitalism.

What's the conclusion of this claim? That we shouldn't consume anything at all? That it doesn't matter what we consume as it all is equally unethical?

Even if you believe that all consumption is unethical, there are still differences in impact and effect depending on what we consume and how much we consume.

It isn’t environmental good to change from a working phone to anything.

Of course not, but who is urging people to replace their new/working smartphone with a fairphone?

The new costs above $600 and the old ones costs around $400. This is a bunch of money

From a price/quality perspective, the fairphone has always been "bad".. You pay the price of a upper mid smartphone and get older mid tech. That's because the fairphone's main appeal is it's modularity and their focus on "sustainable" production, which of course has it's price.

If your main focus is price and affordability, the fairphone is a bad choice.

No, they are not essential.. And this isn't a discussion about wireless vs wired earbuds.. USB headphones/earphones are a thing, the fact that you don't like wireless is not an excuse to demand that an ancient and obsolete standard should be reinstated when you have plenty of options to use wired devices without a 3.5 mm headphone jack..

This isn't a discussion about wireless vs wired though, this is a discussion about whether or not an ancient standard that has already been replaced should be reintroduced just because some people have been using that standard for a long time..

There are USB wired hearphones, there are even adaptors for your old 3.5 mm jack devices, so how is this about wireless vs wired?

So I thought to myself…why?

Why? There are various arguments as to why the old audio jack standard is obsolete, but this discussion was essentially settled with the Fairphone 4, which was the first one that did not have a headphone jack. And they released a detailed article describing their reasoning..

https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/9836188988049-Audio-jack-3-5mm

The community has been requesting this for a couple years

The community? It's not as if Fairphone just willy nilly decided to get rid of the headphone jack, this was done with feedback from the community in mind.. Just because you are loud and passionate doesn't mean that your opinion is the only one that represents the community's.. As a fairphone user and "member of the community", I say fuck the 3.5 mm jack.. It's an ancient standard that was obsolete years ago,

And just to be clear, this isn't a discussion about wireless vs wired earbuds. You can have wired USB earbuds, you can even use your old 3.5 mm jack headphones with an adaptor. This is a discussion whether we should switch back to an ancient and inferior standard just because you are used to it..

Just add the headphone jack, shouldn’t be too hard.

And this entitled and wilfully ignorant attitude will make people take you even less seriously.. You can't "just add the headphone jack", decisions like that have an impact on all of the design of the device and have to be carefully evaluated.. You simply going "come on just do it, how hard can it be" will not convince anyone..

The only thing they have in common with vegans is that they are a vocal minority with a strong opinion, and those can of course be annyoing if you aren't part of the group.

They are closer to reactionaries and conservatives who want hang on to an ancient standard/tradition mostly just because they are used to it and because it is tradition..

You can get wired USB earplugs, you can get cheap adapters for your old earplugs, so it's not as if people are forced to use wireless.

This is just an ancient technology being replaced with a new technology, and instead of embracing the new tech and demanding improvements or solutions to problems with the new tech, some people just instinctly demand a return to the past without compromise.

Wireless headphones aren't the only available option.. There are USB earplugs and there are adapters. The only argument you have is "but I can't charge my phone while listening to music"..