This is a repose to Rubin Chernenko’s blog on October 9, 2012 titles Plug Problems.
With new products, such as the Iphone 5, Apple is replacing its iconic 30-pin connecter with a new, thinner and more efficient 9-pin connection. This will create a compatibility issue with all previously released IOS devices. Third party producers must now update their product lines to fit the new change. Similarly, consumers that want to use Apples new devices with old accessories will have to buy a $29.00 adapter.
Rubin’s opinion that “…this is one of Apples many ways of raising their revenues,” may be true. It is easy to ‘jump the gun’ and assume that this increase in revenue is their main motive for such a change. However, if we look at the history of Apple we can see various replacements in its technologies; for example, up until 2003 IPod’s used a FireWire port. The replacement 9-pin connection is a natural progression to apple products. It can be characterized as “…a trade-off between some inconvenience now for increased convenience later.” With the smaller 9-pin connection come faster transfer speeds, the ability to have audio/video out but more importantly its reduction in size allows for a future of slimmer, better products.
The replacement of the 30-pin may lead to a small increase in revenue from adaptor sales; however, it will benefit both the consumer and producer in the long run.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/06/op-ed-why-now-could-be-the-right-time-for-apple-to-ditch-the-dock-connector/