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Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide? You get a free charging cable usually when you purchase a new phone and cha
by veeralpatel979 7y ago
Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide?
You get a free charging cable usually when you purchase a new phone and charging cables are cheap.
I get the environment argument but I don't see how this moves the needle on protecting the environment. If anything it could scare off tech companies from developing charging cables that are better for the environment.
- sho_hn 7y agoI carry two phones, my private Android phone (my personal preference) and an iPhone imposed on me by work. Not having to bother with two sets of cables would be a welcome improvement. As for "not moving the needle", every little thing sums up. Also, it's not just the cables - manufacturing lines, shelf space, redundant labor, ...
- scarface74 7y agoSo because it would be more convenient for you we need government intervention?
- sho_hn 7y agoThat's an obnoxious and immature way to jump into a conversation. I didn't touch on government action anywhere, nor the comment I was responding to. I understood the parent post as arguing that having a unique cable isn't so bad because you get one for free with the device, among other things. While this is true, my counter is that having a single cable over multiple devices is still nice.
- scarface74 7y agoSeeing that the entire submission is about government regulation....
- Can_Not 7y agoI'm guessing you have a problem with the government regulating lead out of your chicken noodle soup, too?
- scarface74 7y agoLast time I checked, a lightning cable vs USB c didn’t pose a health hazard. The government also made interracial marriage illegal as recently as 50 years ago and same sex relationships illegal as recently as the 80s. You’ll have to excuse me if I’d rather not give the government power unnecessarily.
- Can_Not 7y agoI do remember the "hard core deregulation" party fighting to keep marriage regulated between one man and one woman.
- markdown 7y agoNo. Because it would be better for the environment.
- scarface74 7y agoSeeing that Apple is always bragging about their 90%+ retention rate, not many people are switching from iOS devices and throwing away cables. But is “think about the environment” the new “think about the children” and “terrorism” war cry for more regulation and big government?
- riffraff 7y agoBut if I switch to apple I have to throw out my cables, too. Maybe try to look at this differently: is your life better for the fact that when you travel you need to bring power plug adapters? If cars had different gas plugs that required different gas stations, would that be nice?
- vineyardmike 7y agoYou would rather trust public usb cables? Of course you should bring your own chargers.... so long as that port has a data connection to the most personal device you own, you should probably own the hardware that plugs into it.
- scarface74 7y agoYou mean like if you buy a Tesla you can’t use a standard gas station....
- scarface74 7y agoAnd there is no government mandate for cars to have a standard gas plug. Car manufactures know that it would make the car less desirable in the market. But in fact, you can sell a car with non standard methods of making it move - see Tesla. They didn’t have to wait for the nanny state or other manufacturers to agree on a standard before it started shipping cars. The market decided it was worth the tradeoff.
- 7y ago
- Twixes 7y agoMaking life convenient is kind of one of the things that governments should do for their citizens. And intervention is the only way to make that XKCD strip about standards not true.
- scarface74 7y agoThe last thing I want is government passing laws to make life “convenient”.
- Twixes 7y agoOK, so do you want them to make life harder? Or just sit around? Because I prefer it when they actually do something for the ordinary citizen. Fortunately we didn't have Reagan here in Europe, so we still care about ordinary citizens.
- scarface74 7y agoThat would actually be great. Should the government also have gotten involved in the VhS/Betamax wars or the Blu-ray/HDDVD format wars. The government cares most about their own power. It’s naive to think that the government “cares” about anything besides being re-elected.
- Twixes 7y agoThat's what big business would like you to think, so that you leave them alone. Truth is, the government is the only thing with power that may actually give a damn about you, even if just to get re-elected. Business cares about the bottom line only. Workers' rights, the environment, convenience? All don't matter if they hurt the bottom line.
- scarface74 7y agoYes businesses care about the bottom line - but the only way they make money is by selling things that people want. The government should be involved in regulating where there are negative externalities. Negative externalities are not - I don’t like having two cables. Also politicians care about what the majority wants. As long as you’re part of that majority you’re fine. But if you aren’t - the last thing you want is more government power. Businesses don’t have the ability to take away my property or liberty. The government does. Given a choice between the two, Id rather the government have less power.
- swilliamsio 7y agoBecause it would be more convenient for everyone who has ever or will ever own more than one phone, or ever upgrade their phone. Imagine if you needed an adapter to refuel your car, or to plug an electric device into a wall. Genuinely, how is this any different?
- scarface74 7y agoAnd if someone sold a car that needed an adapter, people using their own free will would choose not to buy it. It’s amazing what people can do without needing the nanny state.
- Can_Not 7y agoTechnically the "nanny state" was for the corporations who proved they couldn't get their shit together.
- scarface74 7y agoWe’ve seen what happens when corporations can’t get their shit together - VHS/Beta Blu-ray/HD-DVD - the market decided. We didn’t need government to mandate a standard.
- tripzilch 7y agoWe've also seen what happens when markets can't get their shit together.
- scarface74 7y agoYes. You have to buy new cords and carry two of them around - I can’t imagine the suffering that must cause....
- tripzilch 7y agoI was talking about the planet.
- Al-Khwarizmi 7y agoYes? I mean, I know from the American cultural point of view, government intervention is like a last resort, and you have to prove that it's absolutely necessary in order to apply it. Government is seen as an enemy and every one of its actions seen as a potential limiter of freedom, hence the right to bear arms (I hope it never becomes necessary, I suspect guns vs. drones and missiles wouldn't be a very fair fight). But we are talking about an EU directive here. As an European, if the government makes regulations that make life more convenient for me (and other citizens), that's amazing, it's what I'm voting and paying them for. And I think most Europeans would see it that way.
- jakehop 7y agoI’m pretty sure that using two phones offsets any environmental savings from a single cable by quite a bit. Who knows when the EU will crack down on that kind of splurging?
- perl4ever 7y agoToday it's phones, tomorrow it's electric cars. The slippery slope could be a feature and not a bug.
- barney54 7y agoIt’s already like that for electric cars. See Tesla’s Superchargers.
- Kliment 7y agoTesla vehicles (and their superchargers) use standard connectors in the EU.
- perl4ever 7y agoNo, I mean today it's standard regulated connectors for phones, tomorrow it could be standard regulated connectors for cars.
- perl4ever 7y agoAnd the day after that it could be standard regulated removable batteries for tablets, laptops and phones...
- markdown 7y ago> Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide? Because letting corporations do whatever they want is destroying the planet. This reduces eWaste.
- ShorsHammer 7y ago> You get a free charging cable usually when you purchase a new phone "Free". It's amazing how many consumers see it this way. When everyone has the same charger phone companies can actually start putting it in as an optional paid add-on, which virtually no consumer will take. The hypothetical environment argument is spurious at best.
- ksec 7y agoUm... may be because the median Smartphone cycle is now 3 - 4 years in most countries and it would not be bad to have a new Chargers and new cables put to work? Arguably not Charger, but you do get the possibility of improved charger or higher power charging. But all cables wear out. So not really wrong with providing it by default.
- Gravityloss 7y agoIt probably makes the European economic area more effective and reduces waste. A more obvious analogy: Why are governments spending effort on standardize the meter, or screw sizes?
- Can_Not 7y ago> Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide? We did and they unanimously made the worst and most uninnovative solutions for costumers.