Belbarid t1_j6hwxep wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:29 PM

They work, they're simple to set up and use, they're cheap, and if something goes wrong you can quickly replace the headset.

Let's say an airline switched to Bluetooth. First, they'd have to upgrade every entertainment console on every plane in their fleet and buy new headsets. That's expensive. Worse, you're guaranteed to have problems with the new setup. Bluetooth isn't as reliable as a wire. There will be incidences where a passenger's headset doesn't connect to the console, or does but there's no audio. The only people to turn to are the flight attendants and they aren't tech support. 2-pin headsets are easy to use. If something goes wrong they're either not plugged in or need to be replaced. Both can be easily done by the flight attendants.

pseudopad t1_j6hxm55 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:35 PM

The question isnt why they're not changing to Bluetooth. It's why they use dual 3.5s instead of a single 3.5.

na3than t1_j6hyhia wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:43 PM

That's not the question. The question is literally "Why do most airlines still use 2-pin audio jacks for the in-flight entertainment systems on their planes?"

mbrady t1_j6iybee wrote on January 30, 2023 at 5:47 PM

I think it's implied that the sentence would continue "instead of single jacks like everything else has", but I guess it could apply to entirely different connection methods like bluetooth.

calkitty t1_j6i1qcs wrote on January 30, 2023 at 2:09 PM

Interestingly airlines are actually upgrading to allow bluetooth! I was on a flight recently where they still had the headphones and jack but you could connect your own device via bluetooth instead.