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Dropping headphone jack enables DRM lockdown

A

Aston441

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 16, 2014
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This is a fascinating article, I wonder if the bean counters have cooked up a plan to recoup the Beats disaster:

http://boingboing.net/2016/08/12/how-a-digital-only-smartphone.html


Excerpt:

"Once all the audio coming out of an Iphone is digital -- once there's no analog output -- Apple gets a lot more options about how it can relate to its competitors, and they're all good for Apple and bad for Apple's customers. Just by wrapping that audio in DRM, Apple gets a veto over which of your devices can connect to your phone. They can arbitrarily withhold permission to headphone manufacturers, insist that mixers be designed with no analog outputs, or even demand that any company that makes an Apple-compatible device must not make that device compatible with Apple's competitors, so home theater components that receive Apple signals could be pressured to lock out Samsung's signals, or Amazon's."
 
It's always been about control. As someone said in another thread, the two primary "arguments" given are that the phone can be thinner (despite the existence of a 2.5 mm port) or that it can be waterproof (despite other waterproof phones still using 3.5 mm). But I too believe that the change is all about Apple trying to get more control. Apple believes (probably correctly) that it can get away with this because people will buy the new phone anyway, just like when Apple went to soldered RAM and glued batteries.
 
I kinda feel like if Apple starting doing things like that they would lose a lot of customers. They're not completely stupid. There's a reason why Google and Microsoft apps exist on iOS and Macs, Apple knows that to some extent they have to play nicely with their competitors. If they draw a line in the sand many people will walk.
 
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M. Gustave said:
The author has no clue about how businesses work, and is fabricating a bogey man with absolutely no evidence simply to get clicks and attention.
Click to expand...
I still think there will be an analogue option so as to not disenfranchise other accessories like card scanners that relied on the headphone jack.
 
joeblow7777 said:
I kinda feel like if Apple starting doing things like that they would lose a lot of customers.
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I have my doubts. A lot of customers seem to believe that Apple can do no wrong. To use this very issue as an example, take a look around on the forums and see how many people think that removing the headphone socket - and therefore customer choice - is a good thing.
 
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Aston441 said:
How do businesses work? Please enlighten!
Click to expand...

They do not work like this:

“They can arbitrarily withhold permission to headphonemanufacturers, insist that mixers be designed with no analog outputs, or even demand that anycompany that makes an Apple-compatible device must not make that device compatible withApple's competitors, so home theater components that receive Apple signals could be pressured to lock out Samsung's signals, or Amazon's."
 
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Nermal said:
I have my doubts. A lot of customers seem to believe that Apple can do no wrong. To use this very issue as an example, take a look around on the forums and see how many people think that removing the headphone socket - and therefore customer choice - is a good thing.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of people would draw the line at Apple telling them what media they can play on what devices.

Also, keep in mind that the members of this forum are not at all representative of the general population. This is an Apple enthusiasts forum, and even here the rumours about the iPhone 7 and the loss of the headphone jack have been very polarizing. Look how many posts there have been lately about switching to Android. This may be the year when we all find out how much people are willing to put up with from Apple.
 
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Nermal said:
I have my doubts. A lot of customers seem to believe that Apple can do no wrong. To use this very issue as an example, take a look around on the forums and see how many people think that removing the headphone socket - and therefore customer choice - is a good thing.
Click to expand...
Maybe it is a good think, I'll be open minded about the iPhone 7. We'll see how this opens up the floodgates for other manufacturers.
[doublepost=1471050758][/doublepost]
joeblow7777 said:
I think a lot of people would draw the line at Apple telling them what media they can play on what devices.

Also, keep in mind that the members of this forum are not at all representative of the general population. This is an Apple enthusiasts forum, and even here the rumours about the iPhone 7 and the loss of the headphone jack have been very polarizing. Look how many posts there have been lately about switching to Android. This may be the year when we all find out how much people are willing to put up with from Apple.
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And the other way, how many people finally switch to Apple.
 
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I7guy said:
Maybe it is a good think, I'll be open minded about the iPhone 7. We'll see how this opens up the floodgates for other manufacturers.
[doublepost=1471050758][/doublepost]
And the other way, how many people finally switch to Apple.
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There's always people inquiring about switching to Apple and vice versa, and maybe it's my imagination, but I feel like there's been a lot more buzz about the Samsung phones, especially the Note 7 in the last week, than we usually see on an Apple forum. I don't really see why any of the rumoured features of the iPhone 7 would attract people who weren't interested in previous iphones. The 6/6+ brought larger displays. The 6s/6s+ brought 3D Touch and live photos. Apple better have something up their sleeves for the 7 because so far the thing it's most known for is the removal of a popular feature.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
There's always people inquiring about switching to Apple and vice versa, and maybe it's my imagination, but I feel like there's been a lot more buzz about the Samsung phones, especially the Note 7 in the last week, than we usually see on an Apple forum. I don't really see why any of the rumoured features of the iPhone 7 would attract people who weren't interested in previous iphones. The 6/6+ brought larger displays. The 6s/6s+ brought 3D Touch and live photos. Apple better have something up their sleeves for the 7 because so far the thing it's most known for is the removal of a popular feature.
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I don't think it's a bad thing if people switch this year... people who were planning to buy a phone this year are probably looking at Samsung phones because of the current leaks of the iPhone 7. It might change when we hear the keynotes on the iPhone 7. Even if I bought the S7 Edge this year... I'm very interested in the iPhone 8 next year. If Apple does lose users to Samsung this year... we may see something really amazing next year to get their customers back. I'm enjoying my S7 Edge and my 6+ now, but can't wait to see the next iPhone in 2017.
 
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Nermal said:
I have my doubts. A lot of customers seem to believe that Apple can do no wrong. To use this very issue as an example, take a look around on the forums and see how many people think that removing the headphone socket - and therefore customer choice - is a good thing.
Click to expand...
A lot of those people seem to be under the impression that removing the headphone jack will make it more able to be waterproofed than if it is included. Of course that isn't the case. I'm not a fan of the headphone jack removal, but at what point does legacy hardware cease being supported? Sure it takes away customer choice, but all progressions in technology have been about compromises that threaten customer choice. I'm sure if it were feasible at the current time phone manufacturers would love to make a device with no holes or buttons; wireless everything and haptic feedback capacitive/on screen controls. That's the way things seem to be headed, it's just a matter of when something gets dropped from the design of a phone.
 
Well, it does of course remain to be seen what the replacement is. If there's a documented way of getting the audio out of the device through the Lightning port then I'd be reasonably happy with that (although having to hook up adapters is a pain). But my concern is that the audio output will be completely undocumented and only available to licensed manufacturers. We've already seen this happen with video output, so I really won't be surprised if it happens again.
 
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Apple Music is all DRM, and removing headphone jack on future iPhone could silently force/convince user to subscribe to Apple Music, as Apple may be able to not play any song stored on device other than it is protected by DRM.
Weird, although not entirely impossible.
 
erayser said:
I don't think it's a bad thing if people switch this year... people who were planning to buy a phone this year are probably looking at Samsung phones because of the current leaks of the iPhone 7. It might change when we hear the keynotes on the iPhone 7. Even if I bought the S7 Edge this year... I'm very interested in the iPhone 8 next year. If Apple does lose users to Samsung this year... we may see something really amazing next year to get their customers back. I'm enjoying my S7 Edge and my 6+ now, but can't wait to see the next iPhone in 2017.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I think that Apple is taking their customers for granted. I think it would be great if Samsung had a spike in sales this year and Apple saw a dive. Competition means better products all around.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
Absolutely. I think that Apple is taking their customers for granted. I think it would be great if Samsung had a spike in sales this year and Apple saw a dive. Competition means better products all around.
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And competition also means killing off decisions against major customers. Removing bad blood from market is not bad.
 
Sedulous said:
I am not following this either. Apple wants more DRM? Then why did they push to eliminate DRM from the Apple Store?
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The article covers that if you want to read it...

"What's more, once Apple gets the ability to add DRM, the record industry gets the ability to insist that Apple use it ("A phaser on the mantelpiece in Act One must go off by Act 3" - Pavel Chekov, Star Trek: TOS). In 2007, Steve Jobs published his Thoughts on Music, in which he said, basically, that the record industry had forced Apple to put DRM in its ecosystem and he didn't like it. The record industry is still made up of the same companies, and they still love DRM. Right now, an insistence on DRM would simply invite the people who wanted to bypass it for legal reasons to use that 3.5mm headphone jack to get at it. Once that jack is gone, there's no legal way to get around the DRM."
 
It is a non issue. You attach an adapter to your headphones and are done. Also, iTunes files have not had DRM on them in close to a decade. Debunked
 
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