EU wants USB-C charging port to become standard for all devices https://www.itnews.com.au/news/eu-wants-usb-c-charging-port-to-become-standard-for-all-devices-570274
IPhone and Android users have long complained about having to use different chargers for their phones. The former is charged from a Lightning cable while Android-based devices are charged using USB-C connectors. Half the chargers sold with mobile phones in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29 percent had a USB-C connector and 21 percent a Lightning connector, according to a 2019 Commission study. [European] Commission industry chief Thierry Breton pointed to the ungainly sight of multiple charging cables. "My job is to kill off these sea snakes whenever I can," he told a news conference. [ I'm bemused by what seems to be a storm in a tea-cup. [ But maybe it's a comprehension problem arising from me being a non-handheld user. And, moreover, I'm a person used to rats-nest cabling, since 1967 under floors, and since the mid-70s in closed rooms at work and behind individuals' desks. [ Maybe there are lots of people who use both an iOS device and an Android device and hence need cables with different connectors? [ But if they have, say, a tablet and a phone, don't they use two "sea snakes" in any case, even if both have the same connector-type? [ And is it really technically impossible, or too expensive, to contrive the means for a single cable to service multiple delivery-points, with different connectors on each of the terminal-cable-segments? [ I'm less convinced by Apple's 'constraint on innovation' argument than I have been in other contexts. (Power-supply to small devices would seem to be a reasonably mature field now, with limited innovation necessary - until of course the unwired-power problem is overcome, in which case the 'sea snakes' quickly become extinct). [ OTOH, '*unjustified* constraint on innovation' is pretty silly. ] -- Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected] T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W. Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
