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Yeah it's funny how many HNers come out of the woodworks to defend their favorite corporation's inferior proprietary charging standard that hasn't seen mass ado

Yeah it's funny how many HNers come out of the woodworks to defend their favorite corporation's inferior proprietary charging standard that hasn't seen mass adoption beyond one single company and even that moved away from it on some of its higher end products. This is why we can't have nice things.

vlovich123 3y ago
What higher end products did Apple move away from it on? Macs never had proprietary connectors again to my knowledge once they dropped FireWire (which technically was an open standard iirc). Apple dropped lightning from iPads but I think that has less to do with moving away and more that iPad volume is relatively small, MFI is not as important in its product segment, it requires high charging rates that lightning probably can’t support, iPad/Mac convergence is a thing and they want to make the charging story between those two compelling (eg connecting your iPhone to your iPad to charge). I seriously doubt Apple dropped iPad because it wants to move away from lightning. Also, Apple has easily shipped many billions of units with lightning connectors and dominates the profit margin of selling a smart phone. I think that qualifies as “mass adoption” regardless and they very intentionally control the lightning standard. I’m sure there’s many competitors who would haven chosen it over usbc before it became so ubiquitous if they could.
- reaperducer 3y ago
  Macs never had proprietary connectors again to my knowledge once they dropped FireWire (which technically was an open standard iirc). More than "technically." Lots of devices had FireWire connections. In addition to my PowerBook, my Comcast cable box, my external archive drives from multiple brands, and my Sony camera had FireWire connectors. Many high-end televisions had them, too. The notion that FireWire was an Apple-only thing is little more than a HN cliche.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    I had both a Sony desktop and a high end Dell in 2011 that had FireWire
  - the_why_of_y 3y ago
    FireWire (aka IEEE-1394) was an open standard but implementors were charged substantial per-unit patent royalties by MPEG-LA. This likely a major reason why it lost out to the royalty-free USB, despite technical advantages.
    - scarface74 3y ago
      $1 per port was not “substantial”, https://www.cnet.com/culture/apple-licensing-firewire-for-a-fee/ https://www.cnet.com/culture/apple-licensing-firewire-for-a-...
      - foobiekr 3y ago
        $1 cogs per port is indeed substantial.
        scarface74 3y ago
        And this is why people who care enough to afford higher end products shouldn’t be burden by commodity product vendors like PC makers and Android manufacturers. FireWire was better. Apple and high end PCs had them. If Apple created a better connector than USB C that cost more to include, it would never be accepted by Android manufacturers who want to sell shitty $60 phones.
        reaperducer 3y ago
        Apple and high end PCs had them. Even Apple's consumer-grade basic computers had them. I was introduced to FireWire when my wife bought a MacBook in 2006.
        scarface74 3y ago
        But even those cost more than cheap PCs at the time.
        foobiekr 3y ago
  - ChuckNorris89 3y ago
    >The notion that FireWire was an Apple-only thing is little more than a HN cliche. Nobody on this thread claimed this, so I don't know why you have to make up your own straw man and start a fame war. Famebait is against HN rules.

vlovich123 3y ago

What higher end products did Apple move away from it on? Macs never had proprietary connectors again to my knowledge once they dropped FireWire (which technically was an open standard iirc). Apple dropped lightning from iPads but I think that has less to do with moving away and more that iPad volume is relatively small, MFI is not as important in its product segment, it requires high charging rates that lightning probably can’t support, iPad/Mac convergence is a thing and they want to make the charging story between those two compelling (eg connecting your iPhone to your iPad to charge). I seriously doubt Apple dropped iPad because it wants to move away from lightning. Also, Apple has easily shipped many billions of units with lightning connectors and dominates the profit margin of selling a smart phone. I think that qualifies as “mass adoption” regardless and they very intentionally control the lightning standard. I’m sure there’s many competitors who would haven chosen it over usbc before it became so ubiquitous if they could.

reaperducer 3y ago
Macs never had proprietary connectors again to my knowledge once they dropped FireWire (which technically was an open standard iirc). More than "technically." Lots of devices had FireWire connections. In addition to my PowerBook, my Comcast cable box, my external archive drives from multiple brands, and my Sony camera had FireWire connectors. Many high-end televisions had them, too. The notion that FireWire was an Apple-only thing is little more than a HN cliche.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  I had both a Sony desktop and a high end Dell in 2011 that had FireWire
- the_why_of_y 3y ago
  FireWire (aka IEEE-1394) was an open standard but implementors were charged substantial per-unit patent royalties by MPEG-LA. This likely a major reason why it lost out to the royalty-free USB, despite technical advantages.
  - scarface74 3y ago
    $1 per port was not “substantial”, https://www.cnet.com/culture/apple-licensing-firewire-for-a-fee/ https://www.cnet.com/culture/apple-licensing-firewire-for-a-...
    - foobiekr 3y ago
      $1 cogs per port is indeed substantial.
      - scarface74 3y ago
        And this is why people who care enough to afford higher end products shouldn’t be burden by commodity product vendors like PC makers and Android manufacturers. FireWire was better. Apple and high end PCs had them. If Apple created a better connector than USB C that cost more to include, it would never be accepted by Android manufacturers who want to sell shitty $60 phones.
        reaperducer 3y ago
        Apple and high end PCs had them. Even Apple's consumer-grade basic computers had them. I was introduced to FireWire when my wife bought a MacBook in 2006.
        scarface74 3y ago
        But even those cost more than cheap PCs at the time.
        foobiekr 3y ago
- ChuckNorris89 3y ago
  >The notion that FireWire was an Apple-only thing is little more than a HN cliche. Nobody on this thread claimed this, so I don't know why you have to make up your own straw man and start a fame war. Famebait is against HN rules.