6 ms·

Is there something in this regulation that says it can never be changed to something else in the future? Why do you assume USB-C will remain the standard for al

Is there something in this regulation that says it can never be changed to something else in the future? Why do you assume USB-C will remain the standard for all future? Seems likely if something else pops up in 2030 that is way better, there is nothing to suggest a new regulation couldn't be made.

roenxi 4y ago
How will they figure out that there is a better standard in the future? Certainly not with a study in the EU. They're going to have to send investigators to more advanced foreign countries to figure out what charger to use.
- Heliosmaster 4y ago
  Why do you think an investigation has to be done on devices available to the public? Prototypes exists.
  - roenxi 4y ago
    Why bother? The competition can't out-compete because it'll be illegal. And the most likely outcome of a prototyping project is people will say "looks nice" then not bother to seriously consider it. The EU is never going to produce a charger that isn't backwards compatible with USB-C. They'd better hope nobody comes up with a cheaper alternative that catches on in Asia.
  - DocTomoe 4y ago
    Prototypes came up with Micro-USB and USB-C before either were released to the public, which then - in millions of tests - realized these are nimble things that break easily as compared to the rather robust Lightning connector. Creating something in isolation, with virtually no chance of it becoming "allowed" by an hostile state actor is nice, expensive, and thus won't happen. If you want to figure out if an idea works, lots and lots of field tests are what you want.
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  They just have to consult with manufacturers and offer them the opportunity to decide what will become the next standard.
- riffraff 4y ago
  The sellers in other countries will adapt to the EU regulation, like every phone producer other than apple has already done since 2010 when the EU asked to standardize on micro-USB. And yet, we managed to also adopt USB-C after that.
  - dahfizz 4y ago
    Because that wasn't legislation. It was literally the EU asking phone manufacturers to please use micro-B. This is something different.
    - riffraff 4y ago
      The draft of this regulation is from 2014, it's the same thing.
      - dahfizz 4y ago
        No, it's really not. The EPS was a voluntary specification[1]. It was a memorandum of understanding signed by the manufacturers. Basically, everyone but Apple agreed that it was in their own best interest to align to micro-B. This is a law that mandates USB-C. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply
        riffraff 4y ago
        I am saying that this legislation started with the EU parliament regulating at a time when the consensus was micro-USB and then transitioning to USB-C in the intervening time. So the fear that somehow the EU will freeze in time while the rest of the world adopts futuristic connectors is unfounded.
- simion314 4y ago
  The industry (Apple) could have played nice and decided to use the best thing and make it standard without being forced by a law, but this would not make them money... if that would have happen then there would not be a need to update the law... As a EU citizen I benefit each time EU forces big companies like banks, telecoms to do the right thing for the citizens and be just a tiny bit less greedy. I was not on HN when telecoms were regulated to have small roaming charges , or when companies were forced to print clear information on their product labels, or when banks were forced to have some limits on the ATM charges but something tells me americans predicted a big collapse in EU and that we will have no telecoms and banks anymore. But reality shows that for telecoms we have even better prices then US, so for some reason regulations did not collapse this giants.
throw827474737 4y ago
Come on, you are clever, I believe you can figure out the answer yourself, if you didn't already...

roenxi 4y ago

How will they figure out that there is a better standard in the future? Certainly not with a study in the EU. They're going to have to send investigators to more advanced foreign countries to figure out what charger to use.

Heliosmaster 4y ago
Why do you think an investigation has to be done on devices available to the public? Prototypes exists.
- roenxi 4y ago
  Why bother? The competition can't out-compete because it'll be illegal. And the most likely outcome of a prototyping project is people will say "looks nice" then not bother to seriously consider it. The EU is never going to produce a charger that isn't backwards compatible with USB-C. They'd better hope nobody comes up with a cheaper alternative that catches on in Asia.
- DocTomoe 4y ago
  Prototypes came up with Micro-USB and USB-C before either were released to the public, which then - in millions of tests - realized these are nimble things that break easily as compared to the rather robust Lightning connector. Creating something in isolation, with virtually no chance of it becoming "allowed" by an hostile state actor is nice, expensive, and thus won't happen. If you want to figure out if an idea works, lots and lots of field tests are what you want.
Nextgrid 4y ago
They just have to consult with manufacturers and offer them the opportunity to decide what will become the next standard.
riffraff 4y ago
The sellers in other countries will adapt to the EU regulation, like every phone producer other than apple has already done since 2010 when the EU asked to standardize on micro-USB. And yet, we managed to also adopt USB-C after that.
- dahfizz 4y ago
  Because that wasn't legislation. It was literally the EU asking phone manufacturers to please use micro-B. This is something different.
  - riffraff 4y ago
    The draft of this regulation is from 2014, it's the same thing.
    - dahfizz 4y ago
      No, it's really not. The EPS was a voluntary specification[1]. It was a memorandum of understanding signed by the manufacturers. Basically, everyone but Apple agreed that it was in their own best interest to align to micro-B. This is a law that mandates USB-C. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_external_power_supply
      - riffraff 4y ago
        I am saying that this legislation started with the EU parliament regulating at a time when the consensus was micro-USB and then transitioning to USB-C in the intervening time. So the fear that somehow the EU will freeze in time while the rest of the world adopts futuristic connectors is unfounded.
simion314 4y ago
The industry (Apple) could have played nice and decided to use the best thing and make it standard without being forced by a law, but this would not make them money... if that would have happen then there would not be a need to update the law... As a EU citizen I benefit each time EU forces big companies like banks, telecoms to do the right thing for the citizens and be just a tiny bit less greedy. I was not on HN when telecoms were regulated to have small roaming charges , or when companies were forced to print clear information on their product labels, or when banks were forced to have some limits on the ATM charges but something tells me americans predicted a big collapse in EU and that we will have no telecoms and banks anymore. But reality shows that for telecoms we have even better prices then US, so for some reason regulations did not collapse this giants.

throw827474737 4y ago

Come on, you are clever, I believe you can figure out the answer yourself, if you didn't already...