5 ms·

This all seems pretty short sighted. Great in the short term (I want a USB-C iPhone and for everything today to be USB-C) but will surely be a pain going forwar

This all seems pretty short sighted. Great in the short term (I want a USB-C iPhone and for everything today to be USB-C) but will surely be a pain going forward - where would USB-C be if this policy had standardised on micro USB earlier? Some will say wireless is the future but I’m not convinced. Maybe the best solution would be to have this policy expire after a certain number of years?

rubyfan 4y ago
The baked in expiration seems like a great idea.
RGamma 4y ago
Micro USB was the standardized smartphone port for years (around the time of the feature phone->smartphone transition): https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/29/micro-usb-to-be-the-standard-phone-charging-port-of-europe/ https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/29/micro-usb-to-be-the-standa...
- hoistbypetard 4y ago
  It wasn't that standardized. Between my house and the office around that time, I had a mix of micro USB, mini USB and barrel ports. And always had the wrong adapter with me, it seemed.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    Agree, I still have a gaggle of random USB cables for various devices. Micro USB was common, but far from standardized. And on top of that, it sucks. I keep a bunch of spares around because it's such a fragile connector.
Quanttek 4y ago
The article already hints at it, but lawmakers are not completely dense and allow for relatively easy amendments by the Commission. From the legislation [1]: > "With respect to radio equipment capable of being recharged via wired charging, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 44 to amend Annex Ia in the light of technical progress, and to ensure the minimum common interoperability between radio equipment and their charging devices, by: (a) modifying, adding or removing categories or classes of radio equipment; (b) modifying, adding or removing technical specifications, including references and descriptions, in relation to the charging receptacle(s) and charging communication protocol(s), for each category or class of radio equipment concerned." [1] https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/46755 https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/46755
- est31 4y ago
  That's good but usually a new standard is phased in for one or two models to gain experience with it and then increasing numbers of phones use it. If you require all phones to use it from day one, you lose that. You'd at least need an "experimentation" mechanism where the commission allows manufacturers to build different devices that represent a few percent of their sales.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    Phones have been doing USB charging for more than 10 years now. USB-C was designed based on the experience, and is what most phones use already. Your point isn't wrong, but is is several years out of date: USB-C is already well past the few models to gain experience point and now moving to the late adopter part of the cycle. A phone without USB-C charging is as quaint as a phone with a rotary dial at this point.
    - est31 4y ago
      USB charging, yes, but USB-C is not used for that long. We might have USB-D in the future. I doubt that it's the end of technological development.
  - cdash 4y ago
    Experimentation can still happen by having 2 ports. Might not be practical for phones since they are so small these days but it being on phones wouldn't be necessary for testing a new universal standard. It could be tested on other larger devices.
amelius 4y ago
> where would USB-C be if this policy had standardised on micro USB earlier? It would be a separate port next to the micro-USB port. The point is that we don't need a new connector every few years for charging a device. This saves e-waste, since the chargers can stay the same. For data, you might want to have a new connector, though.
netheril96 4y ago
I blame Apple on this (as an iPhone user). If they had adopted USB-C sooner, or if they had invented something much better than USB-C, this regulation would never pass. Right now, the charging speed of iPhone is way less than Android phone sold in China. Here most phones charge at 50W+, some at 120W, several times faster than iPhone. While the limitation is not because of Lightning, it is hard to maintain a straight face when Apple insists that they use Lightning because of technical advantage.

rubyfan 4y ago

The baked in expiration seems like a great idea.

RGamma 4y ago

Micro USB was the standardized smartphone port for years (around the time of the feature phone->smartphone transition): https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/29/micro-usb-to-be-the-standard-phone-charging-port-of-europe/ https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/29/micro-usb-to-be-the-standa...

hoistbypetard 4y ago
It wasn't that standardized. Between my house and the office around that time, I had a mix of micro USB, mini USB and barrel ports. And always had the wrong adapter with me, it seemed.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  Agree, I still have a gaggle of random USB cables for various devices. Micro USB was common, but far from standardized. And on top of that, it sucks. I keep a bunch of spares around because it's such a fragile connector.

Quanttek 4y ago

The article already hints at it, but lawmakers are not completely dense and allow for relatively easy amendments by the Commission. From the legislation [1]: > "With respect to radio equipment capable of being recharged via wired charging, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 44 to amend Annex Ia in the light of technical progress, and to ensure the minimum common interoperability between radio equipment and their charging devices, by: (a) modifying, adding or removing categories or classes of radio equipment; (b) modifying, adding or removing technical specifications, including references and descriptions, in relation to the charging receptacle(s) and charging communication protocol(s), for each category or class of radio equipment concerned." [1] https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/46755 https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/46755

est31 4y ago
That's good but usually a new standard is phased in for one or two models to gain experience with it and then increasing numbers of phones use it. If you require all phones to use it from day one, you lose that. You'd at least need an "experimentation" mechanism where the commission allows manufacturers to build different devices that represent a few percent of their sales.
- bluGill 4y ago
  Phones have been doing USB charging for more than 10 years now. USB-C was designed based on the experience, and is what most phones use already. Your point isn't wrong, but is is several years out of date: USB-C is already well past the few models to gain experience point and now moving to the late adopter part of the cycle. A phone without USB-C charging is as quaint as a phone with a rotary dial at this point.
  - est31 4y ago
    USB charging, yes, but USB-C is not used for that long. We might have USB-D in the future. I doubt that it's the end of technological development.
- cdash 4y ago
  Experimentation can still happen by having 2 ports. Might not be practical for phones since they are so small these days but it being on phones wouldn't be necessary for testing a new universal standard. It could be tested on other larger devices.

amelius 4y ago

> where would USB-C be if this policy had standardised on micro USB earlier? It would be a separate port next to the micro-USB port. The point is that we don't need a new connector every few years for charging a device. This saves e-waste, since the chargers can stay the same. For data, you might want to have a new connector, though.

netheril96 4y ago

I blame Apple on this (as an iPhone user). If they had adopted USB-C sooner, or if they had invented something much better than USB-C, this regulation would never pass. Right now, the charging speed of iPhone is way less than Android phone sold in China. Here most phones charge at 50W+, some at 120W, several times faster than iPhone. While the limitation is not because of Lightning, it is hard to maintain a straight face when Apple insists that they use Lightning because of technical advantage.