从iPhone7说起：为什么耳机接口必须死？

To the surprise of exactly no one, Apple’s new generation of iPhones will not include a standard 3.5mm headphone input. The decision signals the demise of an audio port that’s been used for more than 100 years—and honestly, it’s about time. The death of the headphone jack is a very good thing. Hear me out.

豪不令人惊讶的是，苹果的新一代手机将不再拥有标准的3.5毫米耳机接口。这一决定宣布已经被使用了一百多年的耳机死亡。说实话，这是迟早的事。耳机接口的死亡是一件好事情，听我慢慢道来。

The headphone jack is an analog connection originally designed for old-fashioned telephone switchboards in the early 20th century. It can’t transfer nearly as much data as a digital connection like a Bluetooth or Lightning connection. Plus, the headphone jack only sends information one way: from power source to speaker. But that’s all beside the point. The most obvious reason why the headphone jack had to die is simply because the new wave of wireless headphones will be more convenient and enjoyable to use for everyone. For most people, wires are obsolete.

耳机接口这种模拟连接原本是20世纪初专为老式电话交换机所设计的。作为一种数字链接，它无法像蓝牙和闪电连接那样传输那么多的数据。另外，耳机接口只能单向发送信息：从电源到扬声器。但是这都脱离重点了。耳机接口死亡最明显的原因仅仅是新一波无线耳机将更方便，而且让人们使用起来更加享受。对于大部分的人来说，有线耳机早就过时了。

The headphone jack has been outmoded for decades. Built long before the advent of digital audio files—the predominant form of music today—the headphone jack was known for its simplicity and versatility. Historians have traced its origins all the way back to 1878, when primitive versions of the technology were used by telephone operators. The audio port managed to survive a global economic crisis, two World Wars, and even the digital revolution. But enough is enough. New technology has arrived, and it’s undeniably better.

耳机接口已经过时几十年了。它早在数字音频文件之前就出现了——今天音乐的主要形式——耳机接口以简单和通用而被人所熟知。它的诞生源自1878年，当时电话接线员在使用原始版本的耳机接口。它成功地在全球经济危机中存活了下来，它历经了两次世界大战和数字革命。但这已经够了。新技术已经到来，毫无疑问新技术更好。

Audeze CEO Sankur was one of the first people to recognize the shortcomings of the 3.5mm headphone jack, and he decided to bet big on the next generations of audio ports. The Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones were the company’s first to use the lightning connector and contain a digital signal processor, digital-to-analog converter, and amplifier in the headphones, all of which are precisionused to make the music sound better before it hits your ear.

奥蒂兹CEO森克是最先了解到3.5毫米耳机接口缺点的人之一，他决定在下一代音频端口上赌一把。奥蒂兹EL-8 Titanium耳机是该公司第一次使用闪电接口，它包含一个数字信号处理器、数字-模拟转换器和扩音器，所有这些都能保证音乐在到达你的耳朵里之前能听起来更好。

To put it more simply: Everything is digital now. The music players, music files, and the equalizers—every step of the process is handled by computers. It makes absolutely no sense to have a dumb metal 3.5mm cable connected to advanced devices like the iPhone.

简而言之：一切都数字化了。音乐播放器，音乐文件和平衡器-程序的每一个步骤都由电脑来处理。它让像苹果这样等一批先进设备上的3.5毫米耳机接口变得毫无用处。

So the headphone jack is finally dead. And the saddest part? No one is going to miss it.

所以耳机接口终于死了。最悲伤的地方在哪儿？没人会想念它。