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Fairbuds are Fairphone’s proof that we really could make better tiny gadgets (arstechnica.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

206 comments fedilink hide all child comments

But of course we all know that the big manufacturers don't do this not because they can't but because they don't want to. Planned obsolescence is still very much the name of the game, despite all the bullshit they spout about sustainability.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Majority of what they would likely get is "oh another person listening to music or tiktok"

Bluetooth data is encrypted, that's not what I'm worried about. I'm more concerned about tracking.

Bluetooth transmits a unique ID, which can be picked up by any curious individual. That's pretty much how "Find my Droid" and "Find my iPhone" work, and providing even more devices to track isn't great. I can turn off the Bluetooth in my phone and use wired headphones to avoid it, and removing the jack makes that more annoying.

top-tier audio quality on the go? Just seems like a very very niche market

Why not? I often listen to music or whatever when exercising, riding transit, or doing yardwork. Having good sounding headphones is really nice.

Audio jacks cost almost nothing, and I can buy them for <$1 each from Amazon, less if I buy in bulk. So it's not a cost savings, and they're not particularly big, so why do they need to remove it?

Even if you don't care about privacy or audio quality, it's just really convenient to be able to use any cheap earbuds if you lose your nicer pair when on vacation or whatever. Why not have the option? Why force people to use an adapter?

I also have Bluetooth headphones (bone conduction for listening to audiobooks on my bike), yet I still prefer the wired headphones around the house, on walks, and pretty much everywhere else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think the removal is less so the conspiracy, and more so just spacing on the board or even just pure neglect at this point, but I could be wrong. But I'm good with every other point you threw up there. The tracking bit does make sense too, just no one has ever mentioned it. Though I still don't think anyone is hunting me personally lol. I understand having peace of mind is also good too, and honestly, should not be a luxury like it feels these days.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm not being hunted either and probably never will be, but privacy is really important to me and just knowing that it's technically possible without even all that much work just really bothers me. I'm already not a fan of the only options for a phone OS being from Google and Apple, so removing the headphone jack just further reminds me that I'm not in control of my phone.

I would understand if it was totally obsolete, like the old FireWire port on computers or a barrel power jack now that USB-C is a thing, but imo an adapter isn't a replacement since it requires having and bringing an extra thing along.

And I don't think every phone needs to have it, and it's totally fine to have options with and without the jack. The cost difference between the two would be minimal, and in my case, I'd rather have a headphone jack than a third or fourth camera (I honestly rarely use my camera, but I use headphones a lot).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I def think the lack of devices with an aux port is an issue. Honestly the market is too samey right now. Everything that comes out just follows whatever design the last big phone. Evey phone just "has" to have an amazing camera, high resolution and high refresh rate screen, etc. I'm fine with aux ports, I just wish we had variety.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yup. I don't need an amazing camera, NFC, under-glass fingerprint scanner, etc.

I just want a phone with:

5+ years of security updates
privacy-friendly (GrapheneOS, mobile Linux, maybe Calyx, etc)
basic phone features work well
all day battery life
fits well in my pocket - 6" seems like a good size
headphone jack

But because the phone landscape sucks, my realistic options are: Google Pixel. Everything else has much too short of software updates, has a huge screen, or costs way too much. I'd personally be happy keeping my Motorola phone if it got security updates, but that ended so I'm looking for something different.

I just want to make calls, texts, browse the web, and run a few apps (work MFA, Lemmy, mapping app, etc). That's it.