Several years ago, Martha Stewart got up at the shareholder meeting of a major company and expressed the frustration of consumers like you and me who have a multitude of different plugs and cords for our various devices, all with their own adapters and connectors that are not interchangeable. She asked why they couldn't all get together and agree on one standard -- like the USB connection, or the simple way the other end plugs into all of our electrical outlets. Stewart never got a satisfactory answer, and I bet that, like me, she is not happy with a rumor that appeared online from Cupertino this week.
Apple is said to be considering getting rid of the headphone jack on future models of the iPhone/iPad so it can use that space for something else. Instead, you'd connect your earbuds to the lightning jack where you plug in your power cord.
One benefit would be that if you use battery-powered headphones, the phone could provide that power and make the batteries unnecessary and thus lighter. But I'd worry that doing so would drain the iOS device's battery too quickly -- and you wouldn't be able to have the iPhone/iPad plugged in to a power source at the same time you're using the ear buds! Besides, all of us with standard 1/8" plugs on our current headphones will have to buy yet another adapter.
Argh!