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The EU is suppose to be mandating a “standard”. What good is a “standard” that doesn’t support the “standard”? USB C cables that come with the iPad supports al

The EU is suppose to be mandating a “standard”. What good is a “standard” that doesn’t support the “standard”? USB C cables that come with the iPad supports all of those standards. What are the chances that unsuspecting users in the EU dancing in the streets go in an buy a “standard USB C” and find out that it doesn’t work when they get ready to plug their phone to the TVs or when they find out the promise of “USB3 speeds” because it was the “standard” is a lie because the EU didn’t mandate that as part of the standard?

hot_gril 4y ago
People just want to charge their phones. Maybe if someone actually cares about USB3 transfer speeds, they'll go buy the slightly more expensive cable for that. It's not like TVs even have USB-C. And I don't think this reduces ewaste. It's about the same.
- scarface74 4y ago
  Thought experiment: grab a random “standard USB C” cable. Now answer a few questions just by looking at it: - what wattage does is supper? - what data speed does it support? - will it support video over USB C? Why didn’t the EU in all of its technical brilliance at least attempt to come up with a minimum “standard”?
  - hot_gril 4y ago
    What wattage, enough to charge my phone. What speed, don't really care but it's at least the same as Lightning. Video, never used it. EU wanted to break up Apple's proprietary control over the iPhone ports and create a charging standard, cause charging is the important part. Anyone can make a higher-spec USB-C cable without going to Apple, and chargers are uniform for all phones. Worth repeating that I don't agree with the EU's law, just saying why they did it. Nobody in this thread has brought up the real con, which is that tech regulation hinders innovation, and the minor frustration with chargers wasn't a big enough problem to warrant that.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      > What wattage, enough to charge my phone Maybe or maybe not. There are plenty of really low watt capable USB C cords that come with headphones for instance. > What speed, don't really care but it's at least the same as Lightning That’s not true either. There are plenty of “power only” USB C cables.
      - Dylan16807 4y ago
        So your definition of standard USB C cable includes nonstandard USB C cables?
        scarface74 4y ago
        Those are all part of the “standard” as far as the EU “mandate” is concerned and it does nothing to address the issue.
      - hot_gril 4y ago
        I charge my iPhone on an 0.5A source. What's the lowest a cable goes, the USB 2.0 spec of 2A? Even power-only is fine in most cases.
Dylan16807 4y ago
Personally I like that the cables can get better over time, I just want them to have the speed labeled on them. But this is a charging standard and for charging all cables are the same for the vast majority of devices. All the stuff that might break because I don't have high speed data is no worse than lightning which never has high speed data*. *Except for a single model of iPad.
- scarface74 4y ago
  > Personally I like that the cables can get better over time Everything I mentioned has been part of the standard fir years. > But this is a charging standard and for charging all cables are the same for the vast majority of devices The purported goal is to “prevent ewaste”. How does it prevent ewaste if you still can’t depend on the cords working the way they should? > All the stuff that might break because I don't have high speed data is no worse than lightning which never has high speed data*. Is that the bar we set now? It’s no better than what came before?
  - Dylan16807 4y ago
    > The purported goal is to “prevent ewaste”. How does it prevent ewaste if you still can’t depend on the cords working the way they should? For charging, it's fine. > Is that the bar we set now? It’s no better than what came before? A charging standard shouldn't care about data except to avoid getting in the way, and it probably shouldn't mandate more expensive cables for devices that don't have data. Also USB C supports more power than lightning. But to directly answer: That bar is just fine, because the point is the make everyone use the same thing. It doesn't need to be better, it needs to be good and everyone the same.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      > because the point is the make everyone use the same thing That’s kind of the point. Just because it has the same connector it’s not the “same thing”.

hot_gril 4y ago

People just want to charge their phones. Maybe if someone actually cares about USB3 transfer speeds, they'll go buy the slightly more expensive cable for that. It's not like TVs even have USB-C. And I don't think this reduces ewaste. It's about the same.

scarface74 4y ago
Thought experiment: grab a random “standard USB C” cable. Now answer a few questions just by looking at it: - what wattage does is supper? - what data speed does it support? - will it support video over USB C? Why didn’t the EU in all of its technical brilliance at least attempt to come up with a minimum “standard”?
- hot_gril 4y ago
  What wattage, enough to charge my phone. What speed, don't really care but it's at least the same as Lightning. Video, never used it. EU wanted to break up Apple's proprietary control over the iPhone ports and create a charging standard, cause charging is the important part. Anyone can make a higher-spec USB-C cable without going to Apple, and chargers are uniform for all phones. Worth repeating that I don't agree with the EU's law, just saying why they did it. Nobody in this thread has brought up the real con, which is that tech regulation hinders innovation, and the minor frustration with chargers wasn't a big enough problem to warrant that.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    > What wattage, enough to charge my phone Maybe or maybe not. There are plenty of really low watt capable USB C cords that come with headphones for instance. > What speed, don't really care but it's at least the same as Lightning That’s not true either. There are plenty of “power only” USB C cables.
    - Dylan16807 4y ago
      So your definition of standard USB C cable includes nonstandard USB C cables?
      - scarface74 4y ago
        Those are all part of the “standard” as far as the EU “mandate” is concerned and it does nothing to address the issue.
    - hot_gril 4y ago
      I charge my iPhone on an 0.5A source. What's the lowest a cable goes, the USB 2.0 spec of 2A? Even power-only is fine in most cases.

Dylan16807 4y ago

Personally I like that the cables can get better over time, I just want them to have the speed labeled on them. But this is a charging standard and for charging all cables are the same for the vast majority of devices. All the stuff that might break because I don't have high speed data is no worse than lightning which never has high speed data*. *Except for a single model of iPad.

scarface74 4y ago
> Personally I like that the cables can get better over time Everything I mentioned has been part of the standard fir years. > But this is a charging standard and for charging all cables are the same for the vast majority of devices The purported goal is to “prevent ewaste”. How does it prevent ewaste if you still can’t depend on the cords working the way they should? > All the stuff that might break because I don't have high speed data is no worse than lightning which never has high speed data*. Is that the bar we set now? It’s no better than what came before?
- Dylan16807 4y ago
  > The purported goal is to “prevent ewaste”. How does it prevent ewaste if you still can’t depend on the cords working the way they should? For charging, it's fine. > Is that the bar we set now? It’s no better than what came before? A charging standard shouldn't care about data except to avoid getting in the way, and it probably shouldn't mandate more expensive cables for devices that don't have data. Also USB C supports more power than lightning. But to directly answer: That bar is just fine, because the point is the make everyone use the same thing. It doesn't need to be better, it needs to be good and everyone the same.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    > because the point is the make everyone use the same thing That’s kind of the point. Just because it has the same connector it’s not the “same thing”.