Being at a loss for ideas to blog about, I turned to my colleague Drew Evan’s blog for inspiration. There, I read about the antagonizing of Apple in planning to release the AirPod and EarPod (with the lightning port plug) headphones for the iPhone 7 and consequently eliminating the use of the traditional 3.5 mm earphone jack. Having recently learned about business ethics in class, I, too, initially agreed with Drew that Apple was unethical in putting the millions of owners of headphones with 3.5 mm jacks scrambling to purchase new products.
However, as an open-minded business student and audiophile myself, I decided to investigate further into the new Apple headphones. To my surprise, I underwent a perspective change on this issue through reading Jennifer Allen’s article in Paste Magazine. In addition to learning from other sources that Apple will be releasing adapters for the new iPhone so that 3.5 mm jacks will be compatible, Jennifer’s article lists some benefits of the new headphones, including better audio quality in the EarPods (from the built-in Digital to Analog Converters (DAC) and the extra power produced by plugging into the lightning port), and the wireless AirPods eliminating the problem of tangled wires. With the improved audio quality, the market for audiophiles, including myself, will be more inclined to stay loyal to Apple and accompany our iPhones with these quality Apple products instead of investing our valuable time and money to research into the vast headphone market. At the same time, for the customers where audio quality is not a deciding factor for their purchase, the convenience of simply having headphones without wires may just convince them enough to go with Apple instead investing time in other Bluetooth headphones.
For these reasons, I can now appreciate Apple’s decision to take the courage to be the first in its industry to integrate the concepts of built-in DACs and lightning port plugs to focus differentiate their headphones to target separate customer segments. It will take time to see if Apple’s new business strategy of differentiating their products from the industry standard will actually prove revolutionary in the audiophile and headphone market, but in the end, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Word Count: 386
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/airpods-apple-iphone-7-wireless-headphones-explained-faq-2016-9
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/03/pros-and-cons-of-the-iphone-7-not-having-a-headpho.html
http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iPhone%207/Press/iPhone7-Press-07-970-80.jpg