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by cm2187 3051 days ago
My own reasons (and why I stopped buying new iphone models):

1. I only use high quality headphones that have a rubber membrane, as much because of the sound quality (insulating me from the outside world) and out of respect for my co-workers and fellow passengers (other headphones are super leaky). I haven't seen the major manufacturers making a blutooth version of their in-ear models.

2. Interoperability: I currently have one headphone I can forget in my pocket and it works on all my devices: desktop computer, home laptop, ipad, iphone. I don't want to have to carry multiple models and dongles.

3. I already have to deal with too many batteries, I don't want more batteries in my life, rather less.

4. The last time I tried blutooth audio (a few years ago) the quality was terrible and there was a significant delay (was a bose noise cancelling headset). Things may have improved but in any case I have never seen wireless technologies that aren't unstable in some ways

5. Blutooth headphones is not solving any problem for me. Why should I switch? Why should I have to deal with more hassle? What's the benefit to me? Feels like a user hostile move to sell more hardware, which annoys me and pushes me instinctively to resist it.

1 comments

Bluetooth headphones make headphones complicated. Where previously it's literally a wire with speakers on the end, now your headphones now need to run software and they have a battery.

Previously a search for the right headphones was the intersection of few concerns:

* Price

* Sound quality

* Comfort

It was hard enough finding the right intersection of the 3 that fit me. Now I have to also balance the decision with:

* Battery life

* Ease of use (for HEADPHONES!)

* Rechargeability

* Connection quality

Headphones are such a simple idea. For some people the complexities of bluetooth headphones are worth the cost, but I don't want my cell phone to force me to accept that trade off.