The aux cord has been extinguished. SMH and RIP. By now you may have heard the news about the iPhone 7 and all the fancy features that it sports. And make no bones about it, the new device seems very impressive as our own Dan Seitz comprehensively describes. But you also may have heard the rumor is officially confirmed: the iPhone 7 will not have a headphone jack and will only contain a port for its Lightning cable technology.
To be fair, each iPhone 7 ships with a dongle that will connect a Lightning port to a headphone jack, but the writing is clearly on the wall; the technology moving forward will utilize this port and slowly eliminate the jack. For decades, this was the sole means to connect you to your music, whether it was a receiver for vinyl, Walkman, CD player, or yes, even an iPod. But now, we’re moving into a new era, with all of that old technology shuffling its way out the door. Yes, part of this does seem like a craven cash grab for tech companies, eventually moving us off of wired technology into the wireless age.
But there’s always something to be said for analog — that for the most part, it’s always going to be dependable. The old standard. Maybe that’s why it’s the hardest to let go; not the fear that we’re losing tangible items like old headphones or plug ins to our speakers or cars, but rather that it won’t be as good and we’re moving into a new and uncharted space. There are no guarantees, but all we can do is hope that the new stuff will work as well, if not better, than the old. And if not, we can always use a ton of plugs and adapters to force our old ways anyway.
