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> I use the same USB plug everywhere, That's because of EU regulation. All the big manufacturers had their own connector before that, micro-USB started to look

> I use the same USB plug everywhere, That's because of EU regulation. All the big manufacturers had their own connector before that, micro-USB started to look like a common connector among the low end manufacturers. This is the next step for that regulation and has been in the cards for some time.

lifeisstillgood 5y ago
>>> That's because of EU regulation. I am interested in that (because the "secret history" of many market driven change often ends up being a regulator in one influential area made a good decision - the usual example being California and car pollution standards) Edit: just to say I am not commenting either way on the EU here, or on regulators in general. I am just interested if there was a clear point in USB standards process that EU intervention made a difference. If so it would be useful to know their track record in this when judging this situation.
- fundatus 5y ago
  EU basically said to manufacturers: Find a common ground for charging cables / chargers, otherwise we will simply regulate it. So all manufacturers apart from Apple agreed to use microUSB (at the time). Apple was still part of this, but decided to simply provide an adapter to microUSB.
- jounker 5y ago
  I Lived through it. It was not obscure. It was major tech news.
- kalleboo 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply
- gumby 5y ago
  These regulations aren’t secret, and are usually heavily reported on — the government wants people to know it is doing things in their favor. Before the charger regulations the biggest world wide impact of EU regulations was RoHS. That’s when the EU really started to come into its own as a global player. Did you realize all those old cables you still have lying around have lead in them to make them flexible?
nousermane 5y ago
> All the big manufacturers had their own connector before that Worse yet, "before micro-USB", chargers universally had a captive cable. Situation that GP describes - same charger, 3 cables - is already an improvement on that.
dexen 5y ago
>>I use the same USB plug everywhere, >That's because of EU regulation. Patently untrue: the Micro USB has won over proprietary connectors before the EU regulation, thanks to being cheaper than ever-changing charging & data cables that used to be the norm. That in turn was possible through large volume, and also through well designed standard; it was the third iteration of the plug - after original full sized A/B, and after the somewhat underwhelming Mini USB. In particular the Micro USB was specced for quite good reliability - including 10,000 plug-unplug cycles, which is quite high for consumer grade hardware, and that was made possible thanks to the sheer experience amassed over years by the USB consortium. Not by regulator's fiat. That currently USB-C is ruling the market is again thanks to USB consortium's active push, together with large volume of all sorts of devices using it.
- whizzter 5y ago
  There isn't any regulation because the THREATS from the EU to impose it from above was enough for everyone but Apple to fall in line, and that's damn lucky because otherwise we might've not seen USB-C emerge in phones as well as it's done now. (Do we need a new standard in the future? Hopefully that can happen without clunky regulatory processes) Personally I like my lighting cables and I do hope there'll be a grandfather clause but Apples behaviour(logical for them) has put us in an uncomfortable seat tbh.
elzbardico 5y ago
No. Android phones made micro USB popular.
- rvense 5y ago
  Because they were forced to use it due to EU legislation.
  - elzbardico 5y ago
    Absolutely no, you're making things up. USB was part of the android specification since day one as it was a natural technical choice at that time, due to the availability of chipsets, and due to the fact that google wanted standardization across android manufacturers. There's no alternate universe where google wouldn't use USB because it was not told so by some eurocrats.
    - rvense 5y ago
      Plenty of feature phones in the late 00's had USB on non-standard connectors.

lifeisstillgood 5y ago

>>> That's because of EU regulation. I am interested in that (because the "secret history" of many market driven change often ends up being a regulator in one influential area made a good decision - the usual example being California and car pollution standards) Edit: just to say I am not commenting either way on the EU here, or on regulators in general. I am just interested if there was a clear point in USB standards process that EU intervention made a difference. If so it would be useful to know their track record in this when judging this situation.

fundatus 5y ago
EU basically said to manufacturers: Find a common ground for charging cables / chargers, otherwise we will simply regulate it. So all manufacturers apart from Apple agreed to use microUSB (at the time). Apple was still part of this, but decided to simply provide an adapter to microUSB.
jounker 5y ago
I Lived through it. It was not obscure. It was major tech news.
kalleboo 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply
gumby 5y ago
These regulations aren’t secret, and are usually heavily reported on — the government wants people to know it is doing things in their favor. Before the charger regulations the biggest world wide impact of EU regulations was RoHS. That’s when the EU really started to come into its own as a global player. Did you realize all those old cables you still have lying around have lead in them to make them flexible?

nousermane 5y ago

> All the big manufacturers had their own connector before that Worse yet, "before micro-USB", chargers universally had a captive cable. Situation that GP describes - same charger, 3 cables - is already an improvement on that.

dexen 5y ago

>>I use the same USB plug everywhere, >That's because of EU regulation. Patently untrue: the Micro USB has won over proprietary connectors before the EU regulation, thanks to being cheaper than ever-changing charging & data cables that used to be the norm. That in turn was possible through large volume, and also through well designed standard; it was the third iteration of the plug - after original full sized A/B, and after the somewhat underwhelming Mini USB. In particular the Micro USB was specced for quite good reliability - including 10,000 plug-unplug cycles, which is quite high for consumer grade hardware, and that was made possible thanks to the sheer experience amassed over years by the USB consortium. Not by regulator's fiat. That currently USB-C is ruling the market is again thanks to USB consortium's active push, together with large volume of all sorts of devices using it.

whizzter 5y ago
There isn't any regulation because the THREATS from the EU to impose it from above was enough for everyone but Apple to fall in line, and that's damn lucky because otherwise we might've not seen USB-C emerge in phones as well as it's done now. (Do we need a new standard in the future? Hopefully that can happen without clunky regulatory processes) Personally I like my lighting cables and I do hope there'll be a grandfather clause but Apples behaviour(logical for them) has put us in an uncomfortable seat tbh.

elzbardico 5y ago

No. Android phones made micro USB popular.

rvense 5y ago
Because they were forced to use it due to EU legislation.
- elzbardico 5y ago
  Absolutely no, you're making things up. USB was part of the android specification since day one as it was a natural technical choice at that time, due to the availability of chipsets, and due to the fact that google wanted standardization across android manufacturers. There's no alternate universe where google wouldn't use USB because it was not told so by some eurocrats.
  - rvense 5y ago
    Plenty of feature phones in the late 00's had USB on non-standard connectors.