@neutron_bob wrote:
There are several methods available to integrate control functions and display into a headphone cable, all dependent on how ingenious the engineers want to be, and whether everyone else in the company food chain is equally impressed about the option.
Just a moment of thought about it…
One could use a different headphone jack, a four-conductor headphone jack is the simplest, as these are available. First we’ll have to consider the pool of users out there, 99.9% (calculated using Mr. Spock’s methods, for those of you who fondly remember the 1960s version) have 3-conductor ring 3.5mm headphones. The Sansa must be compatible with these popular devices, naturally.
One can use a DC offset to separate the data: control / power / communication from a dedicated headset with controls and/or display. I don’t like multiplexing anything on the output, as this can cause all kinds of issues with chargers, FM modulators, et cetera, and having a DC component on the output can play havoc with headphones as the plug is inserted. I prefer a basic “extra ring” on the jack.
Having this extra contact, the device can simply float the status of the fourth contact, recognizing that if shorted to the ground contact, as in the case of a generic headphone, remote functions are disabled. Once the dedicated plug is recognized, communication / power can be fed to the special headset. Hey, let’s go one step further: the remote unit can allow the user to use any headset downstream of the remote dongle, if a jack is provided on the remote unit.
Now here is the burning question, we’d need a convenient arrangement to carry this two-device pair, and that involves actually using the combination to see what would be popular. There are many variables here, based upon what clothing the user is currently wearing, see? The Sansa Fuze is simple, and conveniently small as it is. Adding a remote, and its requisite microcontroller, and the cost, would only make sense on a much larger player- one that’s more inconvenient to access.
Bob
Message Edited by neutron_bob on 01-31-2010 10:57 AM
I have to agree. I originally bought a clip on the basis that the whole thing was the same size as the remote control for my old device. It’s 100 times better than the old way.
