While I think you're right about all of your points about the 3.5mm jack (and that there still isn't a good enough reason to remove it in the first place for any companies doing it), I think a lot of the whining from people is more due to an unwillingness to change their existing behaviors. That, or they don't know what Bluetooth solutions are out there (or a combination of the two).
Before it was even a conversation forced on everyone, switching to Bluetooth was arguably a good idea for the convenience alone, and that has only gotten better as the tech has aged. Quality has been improving constantly to bring it on par with a physical connection, battery life has improved on both phones and accessories, and the pool of options has grown exponentially and brought the cost of these items down in the process. There's still plenty of expensive solutions, but there are definitely options out there now that are inexpensive enough for people to adapt to a phone without a headphone jack and add more conveniences not available with a wired connection, and without a noticeable difference in quality (if at all). You also don't need to replace your entire car to get Bluetooth in your vehicle, or even the radio. There's hundreds of adapters out there now that make the switch extremely easy and preferable, even if you still have a phone with the 3.5mm jack.
When you really think about it, the behaviors are the same, more or less, depending on the person. Most people charge their phones overnight and maybe a second time throughout the day. With a 3.5mm headphone jack, they're also plugging their headphones or aux cables in and out on every car or train ride (or anywhere else they use headphones). With Bluetooth and, *gasp*, another device to charge, they're just plugging in the charger into their headset at night instead. That reduces the overall amount of times you're plugging something in and out, and if anything only replaces the action with turning the headphones on and off, at best. Even with the occasional troubleshooting of a repairing issue, it's still arguably less effort than the amount of times saved in having to physically plug in the headphones every single time you want to use them. Batteries absolutely do go bad, and there's no argument in favor of this over something that just plain doesn't have a battery to eventually fail. That said, the only Bluetooth headphones I've ever had an issue with over the years was any pairs of LG Tones I've purchased, and that's from one of the buds failing, not the battery. Aside from that, a good pair doesn't seem to be an investment that needs to be replaced every few years as you might be led to believe.
Sorry to go off on a rant. My intention is not to direct these points specifically at you. I just don't think the removal of the jack is as big an issue as people want to make it seem and we tend to get a very vocal minority of people who would rather complain about it than start to process how simple switching over would be and what new features they would gain by doing it.
I get your points, but I don't really think people are just whining. I think the 3.5 mm jack is just far far simpler to use. (And the adapters for cars you mention are just another complication and expense.) Also, people already know how to use a 3.5 mm jack.
At the end of the day, most people are not gadget nerds who hang out on XDA. They are busy, don't want to learn new things, and need a good reason for change. But, for example, just about everyone I know would be befuddled and annoyed to have to figure out bluetooth pairing. And when it failed and they had to troubleshoot they would give up and call me or something.
So the average person doesn't want to learn new things if there is not a significant benefit. And at the end of the day, audio quality and everything else aside (which most people don't care about one way or the other), the real and only true benefit of bluetooth is not having a wire. For that benefit you have to deal with chargers, remembering to charge, buying new headphones when the headphones you've had your whole life has always worked with everything, adapters for cars, pairing and troubleshooting pairing, etc. and so on. That's a lot of extra things just to not have a wire.
For the aveage busy person that is extremely not worth it. So, to me, it's not whining, it's the reality of having other things to do in their lives, because they just want their technology to work without thinking about it.
And again, I think the fact that the 3.5 mm jack has been in use for more than 60 years and the phone jack of any size for more than a 100 years--a period of time in which people have adapted to lots of things, going from horses to cars, flying, space travel, television, VCRs, DVD players, computers, cell phones, every type of kitchen appliance, from radios, to records and cassette tapes, to CDs, to mp3s, to streaming, and on and on--all this suggests that maybe there is more to the stalwart unchanging 3.5 mm jack than people give it credit for. And maybe bluetooth headsets are less of a benefit than people claim.
In general I agree with you that people whine about change and don't want to deal with it. But with the 3.5 mm jack, I don't think that's the case. I'd even argue from a useability standpoint, for the average person, bluetooth headphones are a step backwards. They add complexity, rather than get rid of it.
Honestly, I think the only reason phone manufacturers are dropping the 3.5 mm jack (especially in a very large phone like the Pixel 2 XL that could easily accomodate one) is planned obsolescence. They just want to force people to buy new headphones. I don't think they believe their own reasons for arguing that bluetooth is better.
