XPost: comp.mobile.ipad, comp.sys.mac.advocacy, comp.sys.mac.apps   
   From: rlhamil@smart.net   
      
   In article <140220200927590673%nospam@nospam.invalid>,   
   	nospam  writes:   
      
   > they're called legacy devices for a reason.   
      
   Change is only good if the result is an improvement. Tiny form factor   
   is not an improvement. Getting rid of a wire that may not be useful to   
   you, but is useful to others, is not an improvement (although having   
   both, and a choice, is better than only one or the other).  And   
   connectors don't _have_ to fail, let water in, etc, at least not in a   
   reasonable product lifespan. Except by forcing the issue (but _why_,   
   dangit?) there will NEVER be a day when every accessory is wireless.   
   And wireless connectivity is less than preferable for certain   
   enterprise setup scenarios.   
      
   Bluetooth is crap (data rate, security), but I don't want to get rid   
   of it, because it does serve some purposes; and AirPods are convenient   
   when convenience is more important than qualiity...which isn't always.   
      
   And yes, there are cases where one can distinguish details in   
   better-than-CD audio that one couldn't in something less. One   
   description mentioned something that at mere CD quality seemed a   
   random noise, but at better quality was clearly the squeaky hinge on   
   an effects pedal.  Granted that on-the-go, in a far less than ideal   
   listening environment, even people that could spot minute details in a   
   better environment wouldn't notice; but don't believe the "studies"   
   that claim nobody can tell the difference; I know at least one   
   long-time audio engineer that's quite convinced that both detail and   
   the sense of being there (phase angle relationships and apparent sound   
   position, I guess) are better with high-quality audio. Not for   
   everyone or every situation of course, and most recordings other than   
   serious classical aren't mastered all that well anyway; but some of   
   the minimally edited direct-to-digital are (at CD quality, Telarc used   
   to be incredible before they were bought out). And half the population   
   are below average, poster children for birth control and a time   
   machine, barely worth the oxygen they use.  For a nearly $1K phone, it   
   should be as capable for the high end of the bell curve as for   
   pathetic old Joe Average.   
      
   Ditch the wire on the low-end phone for all I care, I wouldn't have   
   one of those except as a backup; and leaving it out on those might help   
   with making it cheaper. But a high-end phone can be a general   
   purpose computing device and shouldn't be crippled by leaving off   
   functionality for little more than style points.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)