4 ms·

And then people are surprised when free market yet again proves it doesn’t like standardization, so bodies like EU have to step in. Probably a matter of time b

by cromka 4y ago

And then people are surprised when free market yet again proves it doesn’t like standardization, so bodies like EU have to step in. Probably a matter of time before they do on that matter, too.

kukx 4y ago
What about RJ45? Why it did not require any bureaucratic regulations to become the standard connector in network devices? I am convinced the less regulation in trivial matters the better.
- toast0 4y ago
  It was an existing standard, already mass produced that was unencumbered, convenient, and sufficient. Wired networking standardization tends to be lead by groups that want to use the technology and also sell it, rather than by groups that mostly want to sell it. There still were four competing 100M ethernet standards, and now a fifth 100Base-T1 has appeared (but targetting specific niches). If all that changed between USB1.0 and USB 4 version 2 (or wtf it ends up being called) was twisting the pairs more (more or less), the cabling issues would be less too.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- jwdavidson 4y ago
  RJ45, part of the Registered Jack family of connectors designed by government-mandated telephone monopoly AT&T and codified in 47CFR-68 by the FCC, is free of bureaucratic regulation?
  - kukx 4y ago
    It has nothing to do with who invented the connector. The question is why it is dominantly used without being forced upon the users by regulations.
    - nextaccountic 4y ago
      But it was mandated by the government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack Telephones and other telecommunication devices have been mandated to use RJ connectors for decades!
    - vel0city 4y ago
      It's dominantly used because it was forced by regulations.
- jorvi 4y ago
  - happyopossum 4y ago
    Your example proves the opposite of what you think it does - the market consolidated on USB and lightning long before the EU required it.
    - thombat 4y ago
      Back in 2009? https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/06/10-companies-agree-t https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/06/10-companies-agree-t... We were testing our software on smartphones around that time and were forever trying to find the specific charger for some phone (inevitably got left on a powerstrip when the phone was returned to the storage shelf) since even close sibling devices could have connectors that looked the same at a glance but differed by the addition of one pin, a small plastic lug, etc.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        You really think forcing standardization of micro USB would have been good? At the time, iPhones were still using the iPod 30 pin connector. I would have hated to be using micro USB over Lightning.
    - ak217 4y ago
      This is incorrect. The common EPS memorandum was signed in mid 2009 as a result of negotiations between the dozen dominant phone manufacturers at the time and EU. The standardization did not begin until the phone makers realized the EU was serious about this.
    - jorvi 4y ago
      Wrong. The EU told the market to regulate itself or it would force their hand at which point they would get no say in the process.
scarface74 4y ago
If bodies like the EU stepped in, we would still be “mandated” to use micro USB. When the EU first was thinking about “mandating” a standard, that’s what they were referring to.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  This is completely untrue.. The EU mandated micro usb while that was the latest and then switched to mandating usb c when that became the latest standard.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    How long would have taken the EU to mandate USB C? Why should we have to wait on slow bureaucrats to come up with a standard? How would USB C ever become “a standard” if no one could come out with one first because they had to wait on the law to change? BTW, USB C is not “mandated” yet. If they did “mandate” it, are they going to “mandate” that the cords standardize on a power delivery? video out? A certain data speed? Protocols the vendors must support? Will “the standard” be like the indecipherable 99 section 11 chapter GDPR that made the web worse and festered with cookie pop ups?
    - Gigachad 4y ago
      How long do we have to wait for the free market to put USB-C on the iPhone? :)
      - asimpletune 4y ago
        Hopefully less than a week
        ranguna 4y ago
        Hah! That's a good one.
      - scarface74 4y ago

by cromka 4y ago

And then people are surprised when free market yet again proves it doesn’t like standardization, so bodies like EU have to step in. Probably a matter of time before they do on that matter, too.

kukx 4y ago

What about RJ45? Why it did not require any bureaucratic regulations to become the standard connector in network devices? I am convinced the less regulation in trivial matters the better.

toast0 4y ago
It was an existing standard, already mass produced that was unencumbered, convenient, and sufficient. Wired networking standardization tends to be lead by groups that want to use the technology and also sell it, rather than by groups that mostly want to sell it. There still were four competing 100M ethernet standards, and now a fifth 100Base-T1 has appeared (but targetting specific niches). If all that changed between USB1.0 and USB 4 version 2 (or wtf it ends up being called) was twisting the pairs more (more or less), the cabling issues would be less too.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jwdavidson 4y ago
RJ45, part of the Registered Jack family of connectors designed by government-mandated telephone monopoly AT&T and codified in 47CFR-68 by the FCC, is free of bureaucratic regulation?
- kukx 4y ago
  It has nothing to do with who invented the connector. The question is why it is dominantly used without being forced upon the users by regulations.
  - nextaccountic 4y ago
    But it was mandated by the government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack Telephones and other telecommunication devices have been mandated to use RJ connectors for decades!
  - vel0city 4y ago
    It's dominantly used because it was forced by regulations.
jorvi 4y ago
- happyopossum 4y ago
  Your example proves the opposite of what you think it does - the market consolidated on USB and lightning long before the EU required it.
  - thombat 4y ago
    Back in 2009? https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/06/10-companies-agree-t https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/06/10-companies-agree-t... We were testing our software on smartphones around that time and were forever trying to find the specific charger for some phone (inevitably got left on a powerstrip when the phone was returned to the storage shelf) since even close sibling devices could have connectors that looked the same at a glance but differed by the addition of one pin, a small plastic lug, etc.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      You really think forcing standardization of micro USB would have been good? At the time, iPhones were still using the iPod 30 pin connector. I would have hated to be using micro USB over Lightning.
  - ak217 4y ago
    This is incorrect. The common EPS memorandum was signed in mid 2009 as a result of negotiations between the dozen dominant phone manufacturers at the time and EU. The standardization did not begin until the phone makers realized the EU was serious about this.
  - jorvi 4y ago
    Wrong. The EU told the market to regulate itself or it would force their hand at which point they would get no say in the process.

scarface74 4y ago

If bodies like the EU stepped in, we would still be “mandated” to use micro USB. When the EU first was thinking about “mandating” a standard, that’s what they were referring to.

Gigachad 4y ago
This is completely untrue.. The EU mandated micro usb while that was the latest and then switched to mandating usb c when that became the latest standard.
- scarface74 4y ago
  How long would have taken the EU to mandate USB C? Why should we have to wait on slow bureaucrats to come up with a standard? How would USB C ever become “a standard” if no one could come out with one first because they had to wait on the law to change? BTW, USB C is not “mandated” yet. If they did “mandate” it, are they going to “mandate” that the cords standardize on a power delivery? video out? A certain data speed? Protocols the vendors must support? Will “the standard” be like the indecipherable 99 section 11 chapter GDPR that made the web worse and festered with cookie pop ups?
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    How long do we have to wait for the free market to put USB-C on the iPhone? :)
    - asimpletune 4y ago
      Hopefully less than a week
      - ranguna 4y ago
        Hah! That's a good one.
    - scarface74 4y ago