4 ms·

Forcing micro USB and now USB-C on electronic devices has been one of the best ideas by the EU overall. Remember using ten different charging cables? Gone, due

by 9dev 4y ago

Forcing micro USB and now USB-C on electronic devices has been one of the best ideas by the EU overall. Remember using ten different charging cables? Gone, due to a helpful piece of regulation by the government.

wil421 4y ago
I still have the same issue as before except I’ve added a suite of USB C connectors. I still have micro/mini and regular USB devices on top of all the USB C stuff. Not to mention the premium for a USB C charger.
- sgtnoodle 4y ago
  You have to admit it's a better connector mechanically, though. Also, the vast majority of USB-C devices charge fine from USB-A. The devices that require an expensive charger are things that have previously required a proprietary charger, like laptops.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    > the vast majority of USB-C devices charge fine from USB-A I’ve gotten myself stuck a few times with this assumption. My MacBook Air (and probably any MacBook) will accept a trickle at 5V, but my Dell laptop will not.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  > Not to mention the premium for a USB C charger. Only if you want fast charging. I run my MacBook Air over a USB-A to USB-C cable and it slowly charges under light use at around 2.5A and 5V. And tops off to 100% while not in operation. If you want more voltage, then yeah, you’ll need a more specialized charger, whether USB-C or proprietary.
j16sdiz 4y ago
Until someone updates the USB-C or PD standard.
j16sdiz 4y ago
Have you tried Nintendo Switch's USB-C charging? It is non-standard.
- olivermuty 4y ago
  My 45W lenovo usb c charger works very well to charge switch, but the switch included charger wont charge anything but the switch.
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  It’s not, that was debunked.
roenxi 4y ago
It isn't a good policy and if that is one of the best ideas of the EU then they have failed as a political project. 1. Corporations are exactly the tool we use to work out what trade offs of cost v. standardisation are best. Everyone is going to claim victory for a bureaucratic committee then a few years down the track we'll discover technology moves on and the regulation is force people to make stupid choices. Removing the flexibility to adapt at the forefront of technology is going to turn out to be foolish in hindsight. These devices aren't even 20 years old and the EU has already decided to start fossilising the tech. 2. There is a decent chance that this will corrupt the USB standard itself. We're already seeing the bizarre profusion of naming [0]. If there is an incentive for corporations to create incompatible things that are all named "USB-C" they may well manage it. Calls to mind the OOXML vs ODF format wars. 3. This is a total waste of political attention. I suppose now we know how the EU ended up in such a catastrophic posture with their energy policy. Their best and brightest were back-seat-driving iPhone design. Thank goodness for the Europeans, they may not have reliable power but if they did they won't have to search around for the right cable. And if we need to send phones into the land war, we know what adaptors to send with them! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Naming_scheme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Naming_scheme
- morsch 4y ago
  There are plenty of other good ideas coming from European unification. But standardizing the connector has certainly been a success. We already have 11 years of hindsight. And despite agreeing on micro USB initially, this hasn't stopped a smooth upgrade to the logical successor, USB-C. The USB standard is messy, but I think there's been ample evidence that this is not because of the EU. Bluetooth is also very messy. Point three is just nonsense, I got nothing to add to that.
- redeeman 4y ago
  > Thank goodness for the Europeans, they may not have reliable power but if they did they won't have to search around for the right cable yeah... about that.... we in fact have electricity in the outlets, we have countries where the grid has lower chance of a power outage than the chances of a UPS failing. We dont have people rushing to buy gasoline for their generators as soon as a wee bit of bad weather hits.. hows it going in california right now? Babylon bee had a pretty funny, atleast from an outsiders perspective, "news" article: https://babylonbee.com/news/california-man-takes-his-fiance-out-of-state-for-a-nice-lightbulb-lit-dinner https://babylonbee.com/news/california-man-takes-his-fiance-...
cypress66 4y ago
Except for Apple, all phone makers managed to agree to the USB-C standard without any government regulation. What you're referring to is a very recent law (months old) that will take effect in 2024. And it could limit future newer ports that are technologically superior (like lightning was when the standard was micro USB)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- 9dev 4y ago
  This is one of the situations where the proliferation of standards is preferable to technological superiority. I far prefer USB-C to be ubiquitously available over having marginally higher transfer or charging speed.

by 9dev 4y ago

wil421 4y ago

I still have the same issue as before except I’ve added a suite of USB C connectors. I still have micro/mini and regular USB devices on top of all the USB C stuff. Not to mention the premium for a USB C charger.

sgtnoodle 4y ago
You have to admit it's a better connector mechanically, though. Also, the vast majority of USB-C devices charge fine from USB-A. The devices that require an expensive charger are things that have previously required a proprietary charger, like laptops.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  > the vast majority of USB-C devices charge fine from USB-A I’ve gotten myself stuck a few times with this assumption. My MacBook Air (and probably any MacBook) will accept a trickle at 5V, but my Dell laptop will not.
Scoundreller 4y ago
> Not to mention the premium for a USB C charger. Only if you want fast charging. I run my MacBook Air over a USB-A to USB-C cable and it slowly charges under light use at around 2.5A and 5V. And tops off to 100% while not in operation. If you want more voltage, then yeah, you’ll need a more specialized charger, whether USB-C or proprietary.

j16sdiz 4y ago

Until someone updates the USB-C or PD standard.

j16sdiz 4y ago

Have you tried Nintendo Switch's USB-C charging? It is non-standard.

olivermuty 4y ago
My 45W lenovo usb c charger works very well to charge switch, but the switch included charger wont charge anything but the switch.
Tijdreiziger 4y ago
It’s not, that was debunked.

roenxi 4y ago

It isn't a good policy and if that is one of the best ideas of the EU then they have failed as a political project. 1. Corporations are exactly the tool we use to work out what trade offs of cost v. standardisation are best. Everyone is going to claim victory for a bureaucratic committee then a few years down the track we'll discover technology moves on and the regulation is force people to make stupid choices. Removing the flexibility to adapt at the forefront of technology is going to turn out to be foolish in hindsight. These devices aren't even 20 years old and the EU has already decided to start fossilising the tech. 2. There is a decent chance that this will corrupt the USB standard itself. We're already seeing the bizarre profusion of naming [0]. If there is an incentive for corporations to create incompatible things that are all named "USB-C" they may well manage it. Calls to mind the OOXML vs ODF format wars. 3. This is a total waste of political attention. I suppose now we know how the EU ended up in such a catastrophic posture with their energy policy. Their best and brightest were back-seat-driving iPhone design. Thank goodness for the Europeans, they may not have reliable power but if they did they won't have to search around for the right cable. And if we need to send phones into the land war, we know what adaptors to send with them! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Naming_scheme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Naming_scheme

morsch 4y ago
There are plenty of other good ideas coming from European unification. But standardizing the connector has certainly been a success. We already have 11 years of hindsight. And despite agreeing on micro USB initially, this hasn't stopped a smooth upgrade to the logical successor, USB-C. The USB standard is messy, but I think there's been ample evidence that this is not because of the EU. Bluetooth is also very messy. Point three is just nonsense, I got nothing to add to that.
redeeman 4y ago
> Thank goodness for the Europeans, they may not have reliable power but if they did they won't have to search around for the right cable yeah... about that.... we in fact have electricity in the outlets, we have countries where the grid has lower chance of a power outage than the chances of a UPS failing. We dont have people rushing to buy gasoline for their generators as soon as a wee bit of bad weather hits.. hows it going in california right now? Babylon bee had a pretty funny, atleast from an outsiders perspective, "news" article: https://babylonbee.com/news/california-man-takes-his-fiance-out-of-state-for-a-nice-lightbulb-lit-dinner https://babylonbee.com/news/california-man-takes-his-fiance-...

cypress66 4y ago

Except for Apple, all phone makers managed to agree to the USB-C standard without any government regulation. What you're referring to is a very recent law (months old) that will take effect in 2024. And it could limit future newer ports that are technologically superior (like lightning was when the standard was micro USB)

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
9dev 4y ago
This is one of the situations where the proliferation of standards is preferable to technological superiority. I far prefer USB-C to be ubiquitously available over having marginally higher transfer or charging speed.