@fraggle @cstross I really, *really* can't get on board with the original poster's conclusion though. This is entirely Apple's fault for having removed the standard analog audio port and left only a proprietary one requiring paying them to make a product for it; they set the incentives here entirely. And of course this also won't be a long-term problem because they've been thankfully forced by the EU to change that lone port to an actual standard one, so third-parties won't have to so resort.