this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
1399 points (98.5% liked)
Technology
59590 readers
5145 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
We can't only consider innovation today, we also have to consider its ecological impact. Jack plugs and headphones are way more durable than Bluetooth equivalent. I have 16 yo jack headset that still works perfectly, I only had to change the cushions twice.
It's specifically the wire that always breaks first. How can they be more durable?
You can repair a broken cable fairly easily. Especially on higher end headphones. Sometimes you can even buy replacement cables right from the manufacturer.
When you buy wireless headphones you know upfront that they will die within a few years and you will not be able to replace the tiny glued in, oddly shaped batteries they come with.
I like the convenience of BT at times, but I really miss having headphone jacks and hate having to bring adaptors with me.
If you can financially, buy (second-hand) higher-end material, it will come with stronger wires and stronger connections.
For example, see the difference in the constraints damper on these connectors:
vs Apple's:
Jack being simple technology, it's also very easy to get it repaired by the nearby tech enthusiast armed with a soldering iron.
To add to that, many IEMs (and many other headphones too probably) come with removable cables.
So stop making any technological advancement because of the potential impact of e-waste? Not saying it’s a bad thing but it will have have its own environmental implications. No new energy development, we have to rely on existing oil and nuclear technology rather than investing in making renewable energy sources cheaper and more efficient.
It's not an either-or situation, we can do both at the same time, we just have to consider environmental impact as an essential component of innovation.
At the point we are at, yes we have to make a major change, e-waste is an immense problem for many years and we are only starting to fight it.
Inventions not thinking about e-waste at all shouldn't be allowed anymore.