Nearly every day, technological advancements are making their way into consumer products, whether it is Apple announcing further integration of AI into iOS or Nintendo teasing a Switch 2 to follow the third best-selling console of all time. As these new iterations keep coming, it is important to reflect upon the changes being made and evaluate if they are actually benefiting the consumer overall. Many technological advancements on the surface seem to be positive for the end user, but when this comes at the cost of consumer choice, it is not really progress at all.
One of the most glaring examples of consumer choice disappearing from the market was the disappearance of the 15mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 on, forcing users to purchase Bluetooth headphones or an adapter to be able to use a pair of headphones they already owned with a new iPhone. Instead of introducing more reliable Bluetooth technology for headphones in addition to the existing headphone jack and allowing users to choose the option they would rather use, Apple decided for them. Once more with the iPhone 15, Apple forced users to buy a new adapter to USB-C instead of Lightning if they wanted to continue to use wired headphones.
Owners of a phone that costs upwards of $1000 are unable to use a pair of headphones that aligned with the industry standard not even 10 years ago. When the tech industry decided to make the default for headphones Bluetooth instead of wired to a headphone jack, they removed optionality for the general public to choose how they would like to interact with their own technology.
When a feature that was the industry standard for over a decade is suddenly removed from the new tech releases, we need to take a pause from the exciting new features and question whether the removal of consumer choice is actually progress. Bluetooth is amazing and all, but if you can no longer use the headphones you already have and now need to purchase a new product to be able to listen to music on your phone, are you really having a better user experience than you would be if you had a phone that could do both?
This removal of agency from the hands of general consumers goes deeper than the removal of the headphone jack — users cannot opt out of intense data collection by companies all over the internet. Nearly every website requires you to personalize the cache and cookies you allow them to collect, rarely allowing you to fully opt out. Similarly, when you open an app for the first time on your iPhone, a popup will come up that prompts you to either allow the app to track your activity, or “ask it not to.” You are unable to explicitly say no, You can only say that you would rather not have your activity tracked in the name of a personalized app experience — which really means targeted advertisements. The ability to request limited tracking rather than actually being able to opt out is a glaring example of user choice and privacy being deprioritized in technology.
User choice, especially when it comes to privacy or the ability to continue using product accessories one already owns, should be at the forefront of design for consumer electronics. New tech is not progress or innovation when it harms the consumer in such an obvious and widespread way, no matter how cool a new feature might be.