I think OP was contrasting the condition prior to USB being adopted by cell phone manufacturers, when every manufacturer had their own connectors (yes plural, a

I think OP was contrasting the condition prior to USB being adopted by cell phone manufacturers, when every manufacturer had their own connectors (yes plural, and it’s not even right to say “cables” since they weren’t even standardized on USB or 5V and the cable was often hard-wired to the wall wart). It was hell, and it largely ended when an EU directives aimed at reducing e-waste encouraged standardization and the whole market switched to USB (either mini or micro, but mostly micro). This wasn’t the first regulation to have an effect, but it had the largest impact iirc (2009): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply