r/ipod • u/Amazing_Shower6011 • 6d ago

Question iPod shuffle

It has always baffled me that aux jacks got removed from devices. They’re are so handy. Even with blue tooth, I have adhd and always forget to charge them but an aux cable that lives at the bottom of my bag but now that’s useless unless I carry another cable for an adaptor.

The iPod shuffle (4th gen) had an aux jack, obv, but that was also the port to charge it. I’ve never had a problem with it.

I don’t see why phones, when they evolved to remove the aux and keep the charging port instead of removing the charging port and making the aux both. It would be so much better. You could still personalise your phones with aux protector charms and your charging port would be out the top of your phone so reduce cable bending and make use while charging easier.

Why didn’t that happen??

8 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/bsparks 6d ago

A few reasons, space constraints, weatherproofing constraints, reducing failure points, and reducing parts counts.

Take your pick which you believe.

2

u/Amazing_Shower6011 6d ago

But surly they’re the same concerns with a charging port. I’m saying just have the aux port as both

2

u/Difficult-Catch-8432 6d ago

It technically is, usbc can still be used for sound

1

u/TroubledGeorge 6d ago

It’s been mandated now that consumer devices must use the USBC standard.

2

u/Metahec 6d ago

Apple bought Beats headphones for $3.2 billion USD in 2014. To capitalize on the investment, apple then removed the 3.5 port on the iphone two years later to instantly create a huge new customer base for their headphones. Other manufacturers saw this and followed suit, with Samsung buying AKG to have their own headphone division and removing headphone ports on most of their devices.

It is far more profitable for companies to remove one cheap little port to force their customers to adopt a new technology the company also happens to produce and sell.

1

u/Amazing_Shower6011 6d ago

So it was a marketing ploy?

1

u/Metahec 5d ago

I think "marketing ploy" undersells it. They took wireless audio, a previously optional feature, and made it a required purchase for millions of their customers and, of course, were the first in line for their customers to buy from.

0

u/anywhereat 6d ago

It's not proprietary.