Photo: By Kārlis Dambrāns from Latvia (iPhone 7 Plus) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
What we all have in common as classic rock fans is the love of great sound. In the 1980’s we lost the warmth of our vinyl records as they were replaced by original thin sounding issue of CDs. In time, the record companies started to get it right and delivered much better sounding CD’s as albums were continued to be remastered and reissued time and time again. Then in the mid 1990’s the horrors began for rock fans as mp3 technology began to erase all the improvements in sound that new CD technology delivered.
Its a fact of life, we all use cellphones. We can’t carry out turntables or CD players with us. So we have embraced the iPhone and iPods as listening devices. In our battle against the inferior mp3 sound, we have chosen the weapon of high quality headphones. Dr Dre understood this, as his Beats
headphones have encompassed world domination. I personally liked my Ludacris headphones
better, but that’s personal taste. However, Apple now how announced that in order for us to continue to use our expensive headphones on the iPhone 7, we will have to utilize an adapter. Well as everyone knows, adapters do not work well. There is always static and connection problems. Audiophiles swear off adapters because the material that an adapter is made of pales in comparison to the high quality material of an expansive set of headphones. No matter how hard Apple tries to sell the adapter concept, it simplly won’t work, at least in our opinion.
Besides sound quality, there are multiple issues that take place with the removal of the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and the advertising of the wireless Airpods. The first issue is the size of the wireless AirPods. I have grown children in my home so I am not too concerned that they will try to eat the Airpods. However, if I had little toddlers still running around, I am pretty sure that I would have to be extremely careful where I left my Airpods. Which leads to another question.Where did I leave my Airpods? How many people do you think are going to lose their Apple iPhone 7 Airpods? Everybody! What about people who love to use their iPhones while jogging. There is no way those Airpods will stay in a joggers ears while running. My headphones fall out of my ears at least ones or twice on my daily jog. However I always wrap the wire in a way so that the headphones can be easily placed quickly back in my ear. Can you just imagine the scenario in which the Airpods fall out of the joggers ear and then are instantly crushed under a runners Nike’s.
We live in a wireless world surrounded by cellular and Wi-Fi transmissions in our homes, schools, business, and every street we walk on. There is no escaping the wrath of wireless technology. But enough is enough, Do I really want to add to the misery by placing the Airpods batteries in my ears. We have heard time and time again how cellular and Wi-Fi technology is completely or at least somewhat safe. But these are claims made without long-term studies simply because the technology has not been around long enough to gauge the impact wireless technology will have on our children. We can’t stop the transmission of cellular and Wi-Fi technology. However we can make personal choices that will stop us from contributing to the onslaught of wireless transmission at least within our own personal space.
Classic Rock fans love great sound. Many young teens of recent years have discovered the joys of vinyl and are blown away by a sound quality they had never experienced on their iPhones and iPods. Now Apple intends to take that away by forcing us to use EarPods that wont compare to our high quality headphones or use adapters that will only lead to ultimate frustration. So how do we respond to Apple’s decision to remove the headphones jack? Well that’s easy, don’t buy an iPhone 7. Stand up and protest like its the 1960’s. Come on, this is Classic Rock History, we have a reputation to uphold.
While I’m also not particularly fond of the aux jack removal, I’m not so sure it’s a slap in the face to music fans in this way. Objectively, sound quality on wired headphones that connect directly to the lightning port, or USB-C, *will* transmit higher fidelity audio than their analog counterpart. In that sense, audiophiles should be happy about the shift.
As for the AirPods – I agree, they’re a bit ill-conceived. But it’s worth noting the device does not ship with them. They’re an optional, albeit expensive, add-on purchase. The same point I made above still applies: die-hard music fans probably won’t want to listen to their music on bluetooth to begin with. You state that Apple is forcing you to use them – they aren’t. In fact, the phone will ship with a free adapter to maxillary inputs. (A surprising concession considering Apple has a history of *never* including adapters.)
Yes, the change is annoying, and there are issues with it. But I’m terribly sure it’s the slap in the face to music fans you say it is – at the very least, not for the reasons stated here. Thanks for sharing your piece nonetheless! Debate is always good.
Oh, and it’s “auxiliary,” not “maxillary.” There’s the good ole’ Apple spell-check on iPhone playing havoc with me. 😉
Oh, and it’s “auxiliary,” not “maxillary.” There’s the good ole’ Apple auto-correct on iPhone playing havoc with me. 😉