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EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

europarl.europa.eu

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Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#41

Post by selectnull »

yostrovs wrote: post #30
fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

Let's take this further still. Why not mandate identical car tire sizes, having the fuel door in the same spot on every car, all the controls inside the car be universal... How about actually just making one car that embodies every European's needs?

When I visit a friend, it is very convenient to be able to charge my phone without having my own charger with me and just use theirs. At the same time, I park my car and don't care to look for compatible parking space. As for tires, I don't even know nor care what sizes they are but I'm glad the air pistons are the same across all makers/brands/sizes so I don't worry I have to go to the right fuel station to check my air pressure. Right?

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#42

Post by Shivetya »

fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

it really should be filtered out by the wattage requirement. I have more than one flashlight that supports recharging and they all have different barrel connectors.

so either get the devices by size class, or allow a micro connector for smaller devices, but sort them wattage/amp needs

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#43

Post by agumonkey »

guilamu wrote: post #40
gambiting wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, at least one reason for different connectors is the fact that USB-C cannot support more than 100W(20V at 5amps). But I agree that literally every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging.

95 % of laptops have less than 100W chargers.

I don't even expect more than 60W chargers ..

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#44

Post by sokoloff »

fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

If we’d introduced this 20 years ago, think about how much e-waste we could have avoided.

Also think about your screen would look at analog signal 1280x1024, because that would likely be the limit of the standard connector chosen at the time.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#45

Post by simongray »

specialist wrote: post #33
Mindwipe wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple got them to water it down so manufacturing a Lightning to USB adaptor was sufficient. It appears to the EU have tired of this.

I love Lightning more than my first born child. I've been using USB-C now for about 3 months. Expected to hate it. It's pretty terrific. I'm sold. But whatever. Rumors are Apple will transition their mobiles to fully wireless charging. I'm totally on board.

Apple has abandoned wireless charging for now (its unreleased AirPower product).

But even Apple has started using USB-C ports to charge their laptops and tablets now, so maybe it's not too farfetched to think that a future iPhone could also migrate to USB-C? Pretty sure the only reason lightning still exists is to maintain compatibility with the existing iPhone hardware ecosystem.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#46

Post by edent »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

Obviously a common charger would simplify things. We are already almost there. But if the main goal is to reduce electronic waste then it won't change anything by itself because every device we buy comes with a charger, anyway. In order to reduce waste, purchases of devices and chargers should be decoupled (I don't need a new charger every time I change my phone). A universal charger would thus just be an enabler for…

Lots of phones in the UK don't come with a charger. It was a big initiative a few years ago.

See https://www.o2.co.uk/thinkbig/planet/sustainable-products-an...

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#47

Post by 0x2371 »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #24
silon42 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Battery without a phone would be even better...

It used to be the case, but replaceable batteries disappeared in the race to flatness...

Enforcing user replaceble batteries would actually be quite nice. Also publicly availabe original spare parts.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#48

Post by toast0 »

fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

> Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector?

Don't they? I thought LVDS was nearly universal for a long time. Didn't mean you could always swap panels though, resolution and timing needed to be supported, even when the screen physically connected. I've seen boards for sale to add external vga/dvi to old panels, but ultimately did not buy any.

I think there may be some movement towards internal display port, too.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#49

Post by garaetjjte »

fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

>Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector

They usually already do, eDP (Embedded DisplayPort).

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#50

Post by djohnston »

MiroF wrote: post #17
glogla wrote: post #12

Good. Let's also make 3.5 mm jack mandatory on any device that outputs audio - without dongles.

I support the USB-C idea but this latter one is absolutely terrible

More terrible than needing a converter for every pair of wired headphones, and a separate converter for the highly advanced case of wanting to charge my phone while listening to music?
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