“The King is dead, long live The King!”
Apple rebelled against the jack. It won’t be a standard anymore.
A headphone jack is probably the oldest industry standard I know. The story goes back to the XIX century when the original (6.35 mm) version was used to physically connect phone lines. As any other standard, the main reason for manufacturers to keep it alive was the true universality.
However, the sudden death of the jack opens up many opportunities for improvements that we are likely to see:
- The headphone jack was putting the additional risk on your device to be crushed.
- Jacks themselves were good spots to break due to mechanical stress, especially the cheap ones.
- It was literally stopping any innovation. Without the jack, new alternatives will pop up at an incredible pace.
No matter what is coming next, it is going to be smaller and safer. Bluetooth headphones seem like a great place to start. The only thing I am scared of is actually keeping my future wireless pods together.
As a passionate UX engineer, I am always happy to talk more about the work I do. Get in touch via vlad@toughbyte.com or Facebook and stay tuned for more.
