Innovation is not always the hallmark of progress


“This is 7.” Four months shy of the iPhone’s 10th birthday, Apple unveiled a newer, “better” model of the iPhone. The phone was released to the public Sept. 16 with many added features, such as a 12MP camera, built-in water-resistance, a brighter and more colorful display and a stereo speaker system. However, the iPhone also lost a very notable piece of hardware: the headphone socket. Users are now left with no alternative than to use Bluetooth headphones or similar wireless devices. The iPhone 7 does come with an adapter that allows the continued usage of wired headphones, but this adapter is plugged into the charging port, therefore preventing users from listening to audio and charging at the same time (unless they want to pay an extra $40 for a different adapter that allows this). At least right now, the elimination of a headphone socket seems to be more of a nuisance than an improvement. Inevitably, the general population will adapt in time and learn to accept the loss of the headphone socket. But perhaps society shouldn’t be forced to cope — especially college-age consumers, who rely so often on features within their technology. Perhaps innovation is not necessarily always symbolic of progress.

Since 2007, Apple has released a total of 15 models of the iPhone, and with each release, the company claims that the newer model is “better.” Though there are some features that indisputably make the newer models superior to their predecessors (such as a prolonged battery life) a constant claim of further achieved greatness begs the question of who gets to decide what “better” means. In a satirical website entitled Apple Plugs, Apple’s mantra of constant, unrelenting innovation and affected style is mocked through the release of a fake product: Apple Plugs (small pieces of metal that fit into the headphone port to seal off the port and prevent usage, much like the latest model of the iPhone). The words, “Just trust us. It’s better,” fill the screen at the end of the website’s presentation. This mantra, though clearly and intentionally exaggerated, seems to resonate with truth when thinking about Apple and other similar large companies. Each time these high-tech companies release a new product and boast of its improvement from the older models, society generally accepts the new product as the new standard of “the best.” This blind acceptance is what makes innovation so dangerous.

Life for tech companies can be seen as one massive race, each company pushing itself nonstop to be the first to make the next best thing. No sooner do they finish a product than they drop it and scramble to create the next one before all of their competitors. Innovation and creation are, or should be, generally channeled toward the ultimate goal of improvement of life, but perhaps the pressure to constantly find the “next best thing” forces companies to innovate for the sake of innovation. The result of this particular motivation for innovation may be a product that is new, but not necessarily improved. Change is necessary for the proper evolution of society, but the direction in which society is pushed seems to be controlled by the innovators. Yes, the consumers may have some complaints and critiques about the products, but after a period of time, these dissidents disappear into oblivion. However, with creative destruction comes the potential for destructive creation.

Society should look warily at the influence bigshot tech companies have over the progression of society; too often, “new” is equated with “better,” and “innovation” has been equated with “growth.” In the case of the loss of the headphone socket, consumers inevitably need to “make the leap” into a world of wireless technology, as The New York Times technology writer Brian X. Chen writes.

Many economists and innovators praise wireless technology, labeling it as the next step toward a more convenient lifestyle. However, wireless technology and bluetooth devices often have a lower audio quality than wired listening devices. In making a transition to a wireless world, companies like Apple are sacrificing quality for convenience, and due to the great credibility society has given to these companies, people will inevitably follow suit and accept a wireless world as better and abandon wired, outdated technology.  Though the headphone adapter gives people a way to remain in the antiquated world of wired technology, this adapter simply causes an extra hassle that will likely cause people to resort to using the wireless technology anyway, for convenience if nothing else.

People should not be mindless drones who simply do what they are told. At times, complacency in the consumer market causes people to simply allow themselves to be susceptible to the suggestion of big companies. One should wonder what other ideas have been implanted in the minds of people by big companies, and realize just how much influence these industries are given to control the future of society.