I can give you one reason right here and now.
Airpods have made me largely indifferent to the absence of a headphone jack on my iPhone. And if the removal of the jack can incentivise headphone companies to channel more resources towards making better wireless headphones, all the better (for me), because I am gaining in an area which is relevant to me, while losing in an area which doesn’t really affect me.
It’s not entirely true to say the headphone jack doesn’t affect me as an Airpods user, especially if the opportunity cost is in companies not channeling as much resources into wireless headphones as they could due to them also working on wired headphones.
Does that make me selfish? Perhaps, but I don’t make the rules. Apple does, and I simply play by them the best I can, and it just so happens that the way Apple currently does things.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
My experience is the polar opposite of yours. And your point is moot. I think you are looking at the situation somewhat strangely. Companies are channeling more money into it because of profit margins in that business. Not because apple got rid of the jack. BT headphones are a ripoff. The price to performance ratio is awful. Convenience is good, yes. But at the cost of better sound. It's not like apple opened up a new era or something. The phone HAD Bluetooth before. (I see people on here act as if they could never use BT headphones unless the jack was gone) Although Air pods are great for you, I don't think they sound good. I have some beats X which sound better than Airpods and i don't like using them. I always prefer wired in my car or anytime its not a hindrance depending on activity.
And don't be fooled into thinking apple did you a favor. They only were looking out for themselves. Greedy AF with their acquisition of Beats and the upcoming release of their Air pods. You, like many other lemmings fell right into the trap they set by ditching the headphone jack. That is the real reason they did it, which you will never find written anywhere. They are not stupid when it comes to you spending more money on their products. It's all calculated well in advance.