95% of all audio plugs will get jacked at some point and fail
either the left or right ear. A very common place this
happens is in airplanes where the plug is positioned by the
heavy thighs of the previous occupant, who has pressed the
plug out of shape.
Then you come along, looking forward
to some 21th
century stereo technology, and get mono if you are lucky.
So this new product - the lateral 3.5mm TRS saggital slice
female audio socket - allows you to clip the male plug in
sideways, into a springy clamp; imagine installing a fuse.
Any sharp yank will pull the plug right out of the spring.
If this is on a phone, and you take the phone on a boat,
and then you plow into a wave full of salt water, and the
wave goes into your audio jack, and turns it green;
if you had a lateral audio plug, you could easily clean the
exposed contacts. Current designed jacks, require you to
throw out the entire device, and as time goes on and this
happens again and again, it will start to eat into your
budget.
Depending on design there may need to be a soft rubber
cap to protect from short circuiting with keys in the
pocket.