Of course proposing amendments like this are basically impossible because the EC isn't democratic, but I digress.
Thank you for including that comment. Now I can safely ignore everything else that you have written.
This directive was proposed by the European Commission, who are not directly elected by the citizens of the EU. Did you need a reminder of the definition of democracy?
Great. Talk about stifling innovation. What happens when the next generation of USB or Thunderbolt or something brand new comes along. How long will it take the EU bureaucrats to legislate the next charging protocol? As for innovation why would tech company engineers even make the effort to improve charging when they’re staring years of bureaucratic morass in the face to get the new system ‘approved’?
So the EU has now declared that USB-C is the be-all, end-all of ports. New, advanced technology need not apply. So let it be written, so let it be done.
Most new charging bricks already have a usb c input. Just use the cable that is included with your device. They are trying to solve a problem that already has a solution.
Exactly — the claim that people have “charges piling up” is bogus. It’s the same charger either way! Chargers and cables have been decoupled for over a decade.
Good Lord, I knew the ardent Apple lovers would oppose this.
You're all forgetting that the EU did the same thing for microUSB in 2008/2009. This isn't new.
Of course Apple will gripe and groan about it because their phones don't come with a charger and they want to sell you one.
Most phones sold today have a USB-C port. This stalwart, hold-out attitude from Apple for accepting industry standards is a carry over from Apple of the 90s. It's fascinating.
Absolutely ridiculous. In the 2+ years time before this would even come into force there might well be something that replaces USB-C. Legislating for time to stand still and to ban technology from moving forward is a ludicrous way of going about things.
I wish Apple had moved to USB-C long ago. but I hope that they've moved to fully wireless before this comes into force just to make them look stupid.
It’s called central planning. Hasn’t worked for a hundred years. Never will. Until the next time, when the right people are in charge of course (that would be me).
So the EU has now declared that USB-C is the be-all, end-all of ports. New, advanced technology need not apply.
Like the Lightning port is ‘innovation’ in 2021 ߙ䦬t;/div>
Your attempt to feel clever bashing Apple has inadvertently proven the point.
Connectors eventually become obsolete. By requiring a connector be standardised, which could very well become limiting by the time this EU mandate would become a requirement, it inherently becomes about holding technology back.
I don’t want USBC or lightning to be a required port on my devices for the next however many years because who knows what technology will emerge. They’ve been fine so far, but that doesn’t mean they will continue to be for an artificially prescribed amount of time.
Lightning's main issue at its inception was it had only two data lanes, which means it's limited to USB 2 speeds. There aren't any spare pins to add USB 3.0, therefore it wasn't very forward thinking: it was well known at the time we were hitting the limits for single-lane serial communications, USB 2.0 was 12 years old and USB 3 was just around the corner - released 6 months later. Apple is a USB-IF member so they knew for years before release they'd need more data lines to support USB 3. Just two more pins (even left as spare) would have enabled USB 3.0. USB-C also has the ability to reassign some of the data lines to transmit non-USB protocols - Lightning does do this but it's more limited (no thunderbolt or displayport over lightning for example)
If this legalisation had a sunset clause in say 5 or 6 years it'd be more sensible, then it would get every manufacturer to switch and then would allow future innovations on USB-C. Of course proposing amendments like this are basically impossible because the EC isn't democratic, but I digress. I suspect C will be around for a very, very long time however. It's a really good connector. Forward thinking and well designed, it does at last seem at last we might get one connector for everything.
The legislation is completely focused on charging, and WiFi 6, and 5G, especially mmWave, are already quite suited for both streaming and file transfer. Certainly there is concern from those that are creating 4K Pro Res output wrt file transfer, but it isn't going to be a common issue. USB 3.0 just doesn't seem "necessary".
There is a lot to like and once read, most people should be able to get their heads around why we reached this point.
It’s ego. Politicians and bureaucrats think that they know more about medicine than doctors, more about engineering than engineers, more about business than businessmen… more about everything than everyone.
And we have a “public school system” owned by the government, run by the government, and staffed by government employees. Critical thinking is discouraged. Students are taught to believe that government employees always know best. If a government fact sheet tells you that everyone should have USB-C chargers, then everyone should have USB-C chargers, because Big Brother knows best…
So if they don't support your ideology and your agenda then they are "Big Brother". Got it.
Should they raise speed limits to 160mph if you buy a Porsche?
Absolutely ridiculous. In the 2+ years time before this would even come into force there might well be something that replaces USB-C. Legislating for time to stand still and to ban technology from moving forward is a ludicrous way of going about things.
I wish Apple had moved to USB-C long ago. but I hope that they've moved to fully wireless before this comes into force just to make them look stupid.
It’s called central planning. Hasn’t worked for a hundred years. Never will. Until the next time, when the right people are in charge of course (that would be me).
According to the central planners, it's democratic anarchy that's never worked.
Good Lord, I knew the ardent Apple lovers would oppose this.
You're all forgetting that the EU did the same thing for microUSB in 2008/2009. This isn't new.
Of course Apple will gripe and groan about it because their phones don't come with a charger and they want to sell you one.
Most phones sold today have a USB-C port. This stalwart, hold-out attitude from Apple for accepting industry standards is a carry over from Apple of the 90s. It's fascinating.
Actually, they didn't do "the same thing" in 2008/2009.
The standard at release in late 2010 allowed for an adaptor; in Apple's case, Lightning to Micro USB.
Presumably, an adaptor is disallowed in the next standard.
Good Lord, I knew the ardent Apple lovers would oppose this.
You're all forgetting that the EU did the same thing for microUSB in 2008/2009. This isn't new.
Of course Apple will gripe and groan about it because their phones don't come with a charger and they want to sell you one.
Most phones sold today have a USB-C port. This stalwart, hold-out attitude from Apple for accepting industry standards is a carry over from Apple of the 90s. It's fascinating.
They tried and failed. Since then lightning and usb-c were developed. It they were forced to use micro USB, Europe would be stuck using microUSB today.
Good Lord, I knew the ardent Apple lovers would oppose this.
You're all forgetting that the EU did the same thing for microUSB in 2008/2009. This isn't new.
Of course Apple will gripe and groan about it because their phones don't come with a charger and they want to sell you one.
Most phones sold today have a USB-C port. This stalwart, hold-out attitude from Apple for accepting industry standards is a carry over from Apple of the 90s. It's fascinating.
They tried and failed. Since then lightning and usb-c were developed. It they were forced to use micro USB, Europe would be stuck using microUSB today.
If this legalisation had a sunset clause in say 5 or 6 years it'd be more sensible, then it would get every manufacturer to switch and then would allow future innovations on USB-C. Of course proposing amendments like this are basically impossible because the EC isn't democratic, but I digress. I suspect C will be around for a very, very long time however. It's a really good connector. Forward thinking and well designed, it does at last seem at last we might get one connector for everything.
Perfect, in 5 or 6 years Apple will like be charging and transferring data all over the air for iPhones and iPads. By the time this comes about, only the computers will need cables and they are already USB-C / TB.
Great. Talk about stifling innovation. What happens when the next generation of USB or Thunderbolt or something brand new comes along. How long will it take the EU bureaucrats to legislate the next charging protocol? As for innovation why would tech company engineers even make the effort to improve charging when they’re staring years of bureaucratic morass in the face to get the new system ‘approved’?
So the EU has now declared that USB-C is the be-all, end-all of ports. New, advanced technology need not apply. So let it be written, so let it be done.
Like the Lightning port is ‘innovation’ in 2021 🙄
You might want to actually learn about Lightning before speaking in public about it. It's still superior to USB-C for the iPhone. Which is why Apple is still using it. It's also why they were forced to develop it in the first place—there was nothing out there that could do the job.
Most new charging bricks already have a usb c input. Just use the cable that is included with your device. They are trying to solve a problem that already has a solution.
Exactly — the claim that people have “charges piling up” is bogus. It’s the same charger either way! Chargers and cables have been decoupled for over a decade.
Didn’t you use “people have chargers piling up” to justify Apple dropping the charger from iPhones?
I had three different hair trimmers from Philips - means one brand/producer!!! - each of them with totally different charging port. How come this doesn’t bother anyone in EC?
That kind of thing is ridiculous. However I don’t think USB-C would work for that, because it needs to be pretty robust to deal with lint/hair/whatever that is much more likely to get into the port than with a phone. They could stipulate that other handheld devices of a particular type or brand should all have at least the same port. There is absolutely no need for manufacturers to keep changing the basic charging port, that’s all about charging extortionate amounts to replace a busted charger.
There’s plenty of lint and hair in people’s pockets- I’d wager more lint and hair gets in a phone port than a razor. Since most razors use the equivalent of 2 or 3 AA sized Li batteries there’s really no reason a razor couldn’t use USB C as well.
Having to carry a lightning cable in addition to my USB cable stinks. Lightning provides no benefit over USB-C at all. USB-C should have been adopted years ago, just like in Macs and iPads. I think the only reason Apple still has lightning on iPhone is so that it can make money from accessory sales.
Good Lord, I knew the ardent Apple lovers would oppose this.
You're all forgetting that the EU did the same thing for microUSB in 2008/2009. This isn't new.
Of course Apple will gripe and groan about it because their phones don't come with a charger and they want to sell you one.
Most phones sold today have a USB-C port. This stalwart, hold-out attitude from Apple for accepting industry standards is a carry over from Apple of the 90s. It's fascinating.
They tried and failed. Since then lightning and usb-c were developed. It they were forced to use micro USB, Europe would be stuck using microUSB today.
Why?
At the time the standard was released in 2010, Apple was still using the 30 pin connector. Apple was allowed a Micro USB to 30 pin adaptor to meet the EU standard.
In late 2012, Apple introduced the Lightning connector, an innovation at the time, and this time Apple was allowed a Micro USB to Lightning adaptor, again meeting the standard.
Later in the decade, Android OS phones began appearing with USB Type C connectors, and met the EU requirement with, guess what, a Micro USB to USB Type C adaptor.
If the EU had not allowed the adaptor in 2010, there would have been no way for the USB Type C connector to be implemented in any smartphone with the existing standard.
As a practical matter, and given that iPhone is about a 30% user share of the EU market, it actually makes sense that there be multiple connection standards via an adaptor, to allow innovation, given that the adaptor is about a 2 gram item, so a minimal contributor to e-waste.
The irony of this is that Apple is almost certainly heading to a wireless charging future and a transition to USB Type C from Lightning doesn't make any sense to them, even given that the law doesn't come into effect until 2024.
In the meantime, Apple has eliminated the charger from its iPhone packaging, that being the by far the largest component of the e-waste stream.
I just wanted to reiterate that the Micro USB connector was, and is, unloved by the public.
Comments
You're all forgetting that the EU did the same thing for microUSB in 2008/2009. This isn't new.
Of course Apple will gripe and groan about it because their phones don't come with a charger and they want to sell you one.
Most phones sold today have a USB-C port. This stalwart, hold-out attitude from Apple for accepting industry standards is a carry over from Apple of the 90s. It's fascinating.
Hasn’t worked for a hundred years. Never will. Until the next time, when the right people are in charge of course (that would be me).
The charging issue is a diversion for many as their copper wire dialup is still working at getting over 300 baud...
Big Brother will give you the phone they want you to use and all the accessories they deem as necessary..
The standard at release in late 2010 allowed for an adaptor; in Apple's case, Lightning to Micro USB.
Presumably, an adaptor is disallowed in the next standard.
Adaptors weigh a couple of grams...
Why?
In late 2012, Apple introduced the Lightning connector, an innovation at the time, and this time Apple was allowed a Micro USB to Lightning adaptor, again meeting the standard.
Later in the decade, Android OS phones began appearing with USB Type C connectors, and met the EU requirement with, guess what, a Micro USB to USB Type C adaptor.
If the EU had not allowed the adaptor in 2010, there would have been no way for the USB Type C connector to be implemented in any smartphone with the existing standard.
As a practical matter, and given that iPhone is about a 30% user share of the EU market, it actually makes sense that there be multiple connection standards via an adaptor, to allow innovation, given that the adaptor is about a 2 gram item, so a minimal contributor to e-waste.
The irony of this is that Apple is almost certainly heading to a wireless charging future and a transition to USB Type C from Lightning doesn't make any sense to them, even given that the law doesn't come into effect until 2024.
In the meantime, Apple has eliminated the charger from its iPhone packaging, that being the by far the largest component of the e-waste stream.
I just wanted to reiterate that the Micro USB connector was, and is, unloved by the public.