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Apple Proposes Using Pogo Pins to Shrink Headphone Jacks

baleensavage said:
Heck, it's a wonder the industry hasn't just moved to bluetooth headphones entirely like the cellphone headsets.
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Potential interference, high cost, and well really, those little things are alarmingly easy to lose.

Plus I think iPhones sync via Bluetooth in cars for voice; this could probably work for music as well.

Wireless streaming is all well and good, but there's always the reliability issue. Would you trust a bungee jump without a rope?
 
Bluetooth headset quality is poor and unreliable... plus imagine the amount of interference you'd get on, say, a crowded train.

If the headphone jack is the size-limiting factor on the current lineup, why not migrate from minijacks (the ones on most headphones) to microjacks (the smaller kind that come on a lot of cellphone headsets)?

Then just bundle microjack headphones with the iPod and also sell inexpensive adapters for those who have headphones that are nicer but use a minijack?
 
Looks more like a lock tumbler than a headphone jack (as someone else stated as well). Curious to see how well the connections last after a headphone is plugged in, and unplugged repeatedly over the corse of 2 years!

Hopefully the longevity is better than cheap locks of similar design.

Piggie said:
It's nearly 2011 people........

Lets get rid of wires altogether.

40, 50, 60, 70 years ago, when people had crystal radio sets, then transistor radios, then cassette walkmans yeah a wire was ok.

But it's almost 2010

get rid of the wire !!!!!!
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+1
 
As far as I can tell, this would only reduce space inside the device, not make it any thinner. Maybe it would make them more reliable, which would be nice- The headphone jack on my iPod Touch is broken, so now I can only use it in the car with an aux out dock cable or as an internet/gaming device (but the wifi is flaky because the back is loose where the antenna contacts).

Why not switch to 2.5mm as a standard?
 
Skeptical....

It would seem that Apple is on some sort of mission to make everything as small as possible. Sometimes this works, and sometimes...not.

Take the Shuffle, the limiting factor will be the buttons (which were reinstated due to overwhelming consumer demand) not the headphone jack.

And by making the headphone jack smaller the headphone cord will be skinnier, the connector skinnier, and more prone to being bent, and even failure, due to the wire/connector junction being smaller.

Steve and Jonny's "holy grail" would be a small do everything device that is no bigger than a finger nail with a tiny touch screen on which you can't do anyhting without a magnifying glass. But hey, it will be "magical".....ad nauseum.

At some point I fear that Apple's rabid pursuit of miniaturization and "simplification" will surpass the boundaries of common sense and practicality. :eek:
 
Piggie said:
It's nearly 2011 people........

Lets get rid of wires altogether.

40, 50, 60, 70 years ago, when people had crystal radio sets, then transistor radios, then cassette walkmans yeah a wire was ok.

But it's almost 2010

get rid of the wire !!!!!!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately The Wire has already been got rid of. One of the best shows ever made. I say bring back The Wire!!!!! :D
 
SeattleMoose said:
At some point I fear that Apple's rabid pursuit of miniaturization and "simplification" will surpass the boundaries of common sense and practicality. :eek:
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That's pretty much what I was trying to say, yes. Agreed...I like the feel of a Mac Pro because it just gives off an aura of being a machine full of raw power. I don't have one, but that's how I'd feel if I did.

Same with my iPod Classic. 160GB and almost full of music.

Ah, and I remember the first time my dad put music on his 3GS... "Did it work? It's not any heavier!"
 
How much thinner does a nano need to be. Jeez! after a while we won't be able to see the thing
 
ilfn143 said:
shrink the 30 pin dock
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I hope Apple never ditches the 30 pin connector. It is excellent not just for connecting and unconnecting, but physically holding the device up in a docking station or cradle.

840quadra said:
Looks more like a lock tumbler than a headphone jack (as someone else stated as well). Curious to see how well the connections last after a headphone is plugged in, and unplugged repeatedly over the corse of 2 years!
Click to expand...

Applying the same mechanics from locks to this, if Apple uses a small ball bearing at the end which is held into place by the spring-loaded pins, I'm sure the connector would allow for a surprising amount of connections/disconnections. This is how mogul locks (which are the larger non-lever lock pin tumblers) that are used in jails are able to handle so much wear and tear (hundreds of key insertions a day, day in and day out for decades on end.)
 
make a slim headset with the ipod built in. no more clips or wires necessary.

and further... some 3rd party could make a slim headset where the current shuffle simply plugs onto it. it probably exists, but I'm too lazy to look it up :)
 
splitpea said:
Bluetooth headset quality is poor and unreliable... plus imagine the amount of interference you'd get on, say, a crowded train.

If the headphone jack is the size-limiting factor on the current lineup, why not migrate from minijacks (the ones on most headphones) to microjacks (the smaller kind that come on a lot of cellphone headsets)?

Then just bundle microjack headphones with the iPod and also sell inexpensive adapters for those who have headphones that are nicer but use a minijack?
Click to expand...
Good points. Also, what about those cell phones or other devices that just use a mini USB for the headphones. Those have a much smaller profile than a standard headphone jack.
 
Good luck on this one boys. There is prior artwork for hundreds of variations of segmented cylindrical electrical connectors going back to the 1920s. T

This scheme of "pogo pins" reminds me of a mechanism used in very secure facilities going back to the 1970s. Here you had a key that was just a post with eight different electrical contacts along a single plug. It looked like a fancy 1/4" banana jack. You inserted it into the electrical key hole where pogo pins like this would go over up to eight different cylinders.

Each cylinder had a hardwired, distinct, electrical resistance that the lock would measure. If all the voltage drops measured to the right levels, it would trigger a solenoid to unlock the door of enclosure it had sealed. There was also the option to plug a headset into the back of the key and listen to whatever instructions were "unlocked" but the key. I'm sure this has expired by now. Be interesting if the patent examiner brings this one up during the review process.
 
mohrt said:
make a slim headset with the ipod built in. no more clips or wires necessary.

and further... some 3rd party could make a slim headset where the current shuffle simply plugs onto it. it probably exists, but I'm too lazy to look it up :)
Click to expand...

I'm surprised they haven't done this yet.
 
baleensavage said:
Patents like this really make you think about some of these older technologies that are everywhere...
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Yep, and it also makes me appreciate it when a technology doesn't change, too, in some cases. I mean, if the change doesn't add value for *me*, I probably don't want it changed just cuz it's cooler.

I can use the same audio plugs and cables to hook up my dad's stereo or mine, even though his is 20 years older. I don't have to keep track of special cables, new kinds of cables, or buy adapters.

MIDI cables is an example where the devices could be a lot smaller, but it's worth it, to me, to have a device I can use with standard MIDI cables. The size difference ain't worth it.

I would like to see smaller, more secure connectors for FireWire or USB. As an non-pro musician, I don't like how easily my FireWire cables can be yanked out.

So, there are balances to think about. Is it worth the benefit to change the size of the headphone jack? I'm not sure I see a benefit, for myself, but I see how it benefits hardware makers.
 
1. Get rid of docking altogether - iDevices should be able to sync wirelessly, via WiFi or Bluetooth - and use a magsafe power plug

2. Ditch the headphone port altogether and include bluetooth earbuds.

Totally wireless!
 
Piggie said:
It's nearly 2011 people........

Lets get rid of wires altogether.

40, 50, 60, 70 years ago, when people had crystal radio sets, then transistor radios, then cassette walkmans yeah a wire was ok.

But it's almost 2010

get rid of the wire !!!!!!
Click to expand...
Wireless tech isn't there, yet. Too many latency issues still remain in products of this size. TV transmission looks great from miles away, but you can't fit that tech in your pocket.

Does nobody else wonder how Apple is going to make 1 dimensional product parts? That's pretty impressive! I would think they'd get lost on the table.
 
840quadra said:
Looks more like a lock tumbler than a headphone jack (as someone else stated as well). Curious to see how well the connections last after a headphone is plugged in, and unplugged repeatedly over the corse of 2 years!
Click to expand...

Didn't you know you were supposed to replace your iPhone/iPod every YEAR?
 
Meldar said:
Would you trust a bungee jump without a rope?
Click to expand...

You might have a point there - - I saw a big line-up going into the new BlueTooth Bungie attraction at the amusement park, but no one seemed to be coming out.

:confused:
 
the vj said:
At the same time we have several different connectors in a computer witch is stupid.

Why USB, Firewire, DVI Firewire 800 (to name a few) have to be different? at the end all of them transmit data and power.

I believe Apple could help humanity better by developing a single kind of cable so I can go to Radioshack and buy just one kind of cable and being able to storage just a few cables instead several different.
Click to expand...

Is this a joke?
You do know that Apple is in active collaboration with Intel to achieve exactly this. The technology is called LightPeak. It has been demoed in public a few times, and is slated to be publicly available next year.

As far as I know, the connectors have not yet been finalized (or at least finalized versions have not yet been shown to the public), and it's not clear if they would be small enough to meet Apple's needs in this particular space; not to mention they would be a lot more expensive than Apple's existing iPod/iPhone connector.

And that's part of the problem. There is inevitable tension between performance, size, strength, and cost. There are times when different connectors are basically solving the same problem; but there are also times when the essential problem for one connector is small size, while the essential problem for a second connector is high performance.
 
Not another proprietary headphone jack... iPhone 1's was bad enough.
I'm not sure the devices need to get much smaller, just get more storage, battery life, etc in the same space and I'm sure we'll all be happy as punch.
and I think this is 'cool' but why not just keep the connector as simple as can be, more moving parts feels like more points of failure to me...

I"m really not trying to sound down, maybe it would be awesome, I'm just skeptical...umm or cautious rather.
 
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