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"The only reason this happened is that one company refuses to play ball" No, not at all. It happened because legislators in the EU don't understand tech, don'
by jariel 7y ago
"The only reason this happened is that one company refuses to play ball"
No, not at all.
It happened because legislators in the EU don't understand tech, don't understand re-cycling, don't understand the industry, but they all use iPhones+Androids and wonder why 'there are so many goddam cables'. It's a very specific problem that just happens to be visceral and immediate with the people in charge: they can all relate to it. So they want to 'do something' and 'legislation' is what they do.
It's the wrong approach I hope cooler heads prevail.
- monocasa 7y agoThey understand it just fine, and are the main reason that every phone model doesn't have it's own proprietary connectors like in the feature phone days.
- iSnow 7y agoHaha, I've been around when tech-illiterate regulators from the EU weren't around to stymie innovation in the oh-so important field of power connectors. In fact, I still have a box full of wall-warts from at least 5 phone manufacturers, and not one would fit on a different maker's phone. In fact, for some producers, the power plugs were even different for different models. Yeah, I so miss those days.
- ashildr 7y agoI have the same box, with wall warts from my first cellphone in about 1998 until today. Now tell me, how many of those wall warts are from Apple and don’t have a USB-Port or a fixed cable? Exactly 0. Now tell me how many of the other manufacturer’s power adaptors have either a fixed cable or a non-USB port? All wall warts that came with any Apple Phone or iPad I ever used are still usable because they are USB.
- Symbiote 7y agoApple's first phone was released only just before the first EU regulation came into force. Presumably they were aware of the upcoming regulation.
- iSnow 7y ago>All wall warts that came with any Apple Phone or iPad I ever used are still usable because they are USB. Which is totally not a coincidence because back then, the EU was pondering forcing a common standard down producer's side. I still have a Apple FireWire-wall wart from my old iPod, though. Again not a coincidence. It resides in the box with all the fondly-remembered Nokia- and Siemens plugs from the same time.
- jariel 7y agoIf you think this legislation will solve the problem, you're misunderstanding the situation broadly. 'Those days' of 'many connectors' will not go away, they'll just be another layer of weird multifaceted connectors, confusion, and lawsuits with respect to the actual meaning of the legislation. With respect to sustainability, even perfectly formulated legislation will have zero impact on the amount we recycle.
- vineyardmike 7y agoI have a box full of USB C dongles that hints we may always have boxes of cables.