Why are headphone jacks for computers and handsets different diameters than cellphones?

It always seems I have the wrong diameter headphone jack when I need one.

Since adapters exist, why do they make headphone jacks different diameters anyway?

Is there a functional difference?

Reply to
Judy Miller
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I'd guess that the larger, the more durable, but the size of the device often limits the size of the connector that can be used.

But some devices may produce only mono sound, while others produce stereo sound. Again, different connectors are appropriate -- not different sizes but with either two or three contact points.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

and more contacts for a boom mic

Reply to
N_Cook

Smart Phones have compatible connectors for normal earphones. Cellphones were never really designed with multimedia in mind. I'd get a better mobe.

Reply to
dave

And cellphones often have mono headset and microphone on thesame tiny plug - you don't want to be able to just willy-nilly plug in a set of sterio headphones with the 1/8" plug. Might be different impedence too.

Reply to
clare

They started with big ones, 100 years ago. 1/4" As things have gotten smaller, the big plugs were too big for the little devices.

I have loads of adapters, but only for temporary use until I get the right product. Adapters are a pain -- they stick out -- and a little cell phone or Sandisk MP3 player won't have the power to drive the 2 or

2.5" speakers in a large set of headphones. Even if it did have the power, it would run the battery down too fast.

No, except that some headsets need a microphone, and others are monoaural or stereo, maybe with no microphone. For talking on the phone, there could be two earpieces but they would have the same sound, no stereo.

Reply to
micky

Why would anyone want to use a headphone on a computer?

Reply to
Caulking-Gunn

Why would anyone need a 'caulking gunn' for anything?

Some people are online while other people are sleeping A headset with a boom mic allows you to use Skype or other functions without making so much noise.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

To listen to stuff.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

To hear the audio on media files?

Reply to
dave

Cell phones used to have 2.5 mm plugs, because cell phones used to be tiny.

Early AMPS (analog mobile phone service) cell phones in the 1980's were essentially suitcases, and were called "car phones". By the early 1990's, cell phones had shrunk to the point that they looked like household cordless phones. A race was on for phones to be smaller and smaller. The smaller the phone the more "status" it showed. Within about a decade, by the 2000's, phones became ridiculously tiny. These tiny phones used 2.5 mm headphone jacks to save space. Every cubic millimeter counts in a compact design.

The trend now is for phones to be larger, because they are now essentially small tablet computers, and the screen size matters. Nobody wants to use a 1.5 by 2 inch screen.

These modern smartphones tend to have the usual 3.5 mm (or 1/8") jacks that you also see on computers.

I.e. long story short; your phone is probably outdated.

Reply to
Kaz Kylheku

Laptop in an an area where others are disturbed by your game or movie? Library? Airplane? Cafe?

Get out much?

Reply to
Kaz Kylheku

Night time listening on your desktop PC? Or at work in cubicle land: cranking some tunes, without disturbing coworkers in the next cube?

Don't have a job either?

No wait, I know, you're a billionaire.

You're always in a private space where you can crank whatever you want out of speakers (and even if people there don't like it, they pretend to). You fly in your own private jet when you travel. If you do go to a public library, it's to make some six figure donation, so they close it for a day for your private use and you can crank music there. A mile of estate separates you from your closest neighbors, and if you want to listen to something at night, you can go to a room in the house that is ten doors away from the bedrooms where people are sleeping.

Yeah, why the hell would anyone need headphones with a computer; it's simply unimaginable.

Reply to
Kaz Kylheku

Years ago I was in the main library in Bellevue WA which is in the ritzy part of town. There were a few teenage girls hanging out and one had a phone on a chain around her neck. It was a tiny Motorola flip phone that at the time was $1500.00 US. She was certainly showing her status wearing her phone like an ornament. ERic

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Reply to
etpm

My desktop computer is connected to my stereo. My MP3s and videos sound great. I have all those annoying "computer sounds", like beeps and alerts that MS has in their OSs, disabled. I dont want or need that crap. In fact I normally have the stereo shut off, except when I an listening to music or videos. What irritates me, are websites that have sound, and suddenly my nerves would get shattered by some unexpected sound, which is why I leave the stereo off during web browsing.

Reply to
Caulking-Gunn

For sucking caulk :)

Reply to
Caulking-Gunn

You can get a kick out of people's Youtube instruction videos on how to apply sealants, where the guy says "c*ck" about fifty times.

"By the time you get through this video, you will know all about c*ck and what to do with it."

"That's all the prep work; now it's time to get out the c*ck and put it into the crack."

*slap forehead*

To reduce embarrassment, pronounce it as if it were a portmanteau of the words "call" and "hulk". Make sure the "L" sound is heard.

Reply to
Kaz Kylheku

Suck whatever you want. :(

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Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to 
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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

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