If you kill the headphone jack, you need to replace it with something better

As the rumors that the next iPhone will drop the 3.5mm headphone jack have intensified, I’ve been keeping tabs on the specific argument that Daring Fireball’s John Gruber made yesterday: that removing the headphone jack from the iPhone is the modern-day equivalent of removing the floppy drive from the iMac in the late ’90s. It caused some pain at the time, but it was the way things were moving anyway, and in the grand scheme of things it was a smart thing to do.

The people on the “get rid of the headphone jack” side of the debate normally choose some version of this position as the justification that the jack is “old” and so getting rid of it represents “progress.” And the fact of the matter is that Apple has been pretty good at this kind of progress over the years, picking up new technologies like USB and SSDs and dropping aging ones like the DVD drive well before those technologies had gone (or ceased to be) mainstream.

My first thought was DON’T KILL THE HEADPHONE JACK, Apple. I have a bunch of 3.5 mm chords laying around and older hardware that uses them.

After reading WIRED’s Who Cares if Apples Ditches the Headphone Jack? Wireless Is the Future, however, I’ve changed my mind. All my old hardware and chords and hoopla — it’s all legacy now.

I only use Bluetooth speakers at home because: wireless. I carry my Amazon Tap around to whatever room I’m in because: portable. I use my Apple EarPods because they came with my iPhone. If my next iPhone comes with something else, that’s what I’ll use.

Now that I’ve taken a step back and looked at reality (as opposed to history), I don’t care if there’s a headphone jack in my next phone or not. Holding onto something because that’s what we’ve always used or always done is bullshit. Embrace the now.

What would I would really, really, really like is a wireless charger for my phone. Something built in, no third party extras. My Palm Pre could power up just by sitting on the little cradle and that was badass.

#hardware #apple

Raygun Gothic Rocket

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is a rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was, a critical kitsch somewhere between The Moons of Mongo & Manga Nouveau.

The photo above is from Burning Man but the rocket ship now lives on Pier 14 in San Francisco. And yes, I will pilot this to the Outer Rim.

It’s also for sale.

There’s only one… it’s unique. (Although, if you’d like us to make a second or third… we have the technology).

#hardware

And it has been since early December that I know of. This doesn’t bid well for Google’s flagship tablet. I may have clicked “Buy” on a whim with my Christmas dollars if I could have.

Note to Google — the iPad isn’t out of stock and I doubt if Apple would let it be during the holiday season, let alone for the whole month.

#hardware

It’s either dead technology or the Internet.

#photos #hardware

Turn On the Server. It’s Cold Inside.

Two researchers at the University of Virginia and four at Microsoft Research explored this possibility in a paper presented this year at the Usenix Workshop on Hot Topics in Cloud Computing. The paper looks at how the servers - though still operated by their companies - could be placed inside homes and used as a source of heat. The authors call the concept the “data furnace.”

They acknowledge that it is more likely that data furnaces, if adopted, would be placed first in basements of office and apartment buildings, not in individual homes. But as a “thought-provoking exercise,” the authors give homes the bulk of their attention.

I suppose it’s all about trust before it could go mainstream.

#hardware

Inside Facebook’s Amazing Oregon Data Center

It’s the place where Facebook lives-and an awful lot of effort goes into making sure that the site loads up quickly and reliably every time every one of those 800 million active users pays a visit.

Cool hardware tech for those interested.

#hardware #facebook

Sweet electric tooth brush, where have you been my whole life?

#hardware