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EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

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Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#211
post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How “hefty” can the license fee be when you can buy a pack of five lightning cables for $14? https://www.amazon.com/Charger-AYNGWRNB-Certified-Lightning-... But if Apple is being “abusive” by having proprietary hardware, does that mean they should also force Nintendo to use standard media for the Switch? Should they also force Apple to allow iPhones to run a more standard operating system?

Fully 40% of those reviews are 1-star reviews (mostly due to the cables not working out of the box, or failing after a short time). I get the feeling these aren't legitimately certified.

The average rating is 2.8. They do data transfer and they charge the phone. I use them now.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#212

I'm with Apple on this one. Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time. The original iPhone cable, then lightning, then wireless charging. This stifles innovation. Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? I doubt Apple's lobbying against this for some nefarious reason, like locking users into their proprietary technology.

> The original iPhone cable, then lightning, then wireless charging

I was under the impression that Apple was behind the curve on wireless. My wife and I bought our phones at around the same time, her iPhone doesn't have wireless, my Android does.

Bear in mind, not all Android do; that was one reason I didn't buy the Pixel when I bought my phone; no wireless charging was a deal breaker.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that at this point, benefits of standartisation outweight benefits of marginal innovation. What are you actually saying? "if a toaster doesn't work off USB C, neither should an iPhone have to?

I’m saying that the analogy is flawed. There has never been a mandate or standard for the device end of a power cord.

What a weird coincidence that the power cable to my desktop fits my flatscreen monitor! What are the odds that would happen by pure chance?!

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that at this point, benefits of standartisation outweight benefits of marginal innovation. What are you actually saying? "if a toaster doesn't work off USB C, neither should an iPhone have to?

I’m saying that the analogy is flawed. There has never been a mandate or standard for the device end of a power cord.

It's not an analogy, it's a general principle: we put a standard in place in important industries with mature technology. Your car has a standard interface to a petrol pump. Fire engine has a standard interface to a fire hydrant.

Some people believe it's time for a standard interface between a phone and a charger.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m saying that the analogy is flawed. There has never been a mandate or standard for the device end of a power cord.

It's not an analogy, it's a general principle: we put a standard in place in important industries with mature technology. Your car has a standard interface to a petrol pump. Fire engine has a standard interface to a fire hydrant. Some people believe it's time for a standard interface between a phone and a charger.

We don’t have to reach for other industries. Electricity in the home is definitely “mature” yet we never saw the need for the government to mandate a standard for a plug on the device end.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m saying that the analogy is flawed. There has never been a mandate or standard for the device end of a power cord.

What a weird coincidence that the power cable to my desktop fits my flatscreen monitor! What are the odds that would happen by pure chance?!

And yet my power cable from my Dell laptop doesn’t fit in my work provider HP laptop. Not does the cable from my son’s Sony fit the XBox....

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? Sounds like "why spend money on NASA when we have poverty here on earth?". Governments have a lot of people and a lot of resources and can work on more than one thing at a time. > Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time And it will continue to do so. Except it now has to convince others to adopt its…

Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide? You get a free charging cable usually when you purchase a new phone and charging cables are cheap. I get the environment argument but I don't see how this moves the needle on protecting the environment. If anything it could scare off tech companies from developing charging cables that are better for the environment.

> Yes but why is it so bad to let companies choose what charging cables they provide?

Because letting corporations do whatever they want is destroying the planet.

This reduces eWaste.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#218

The joint motion points to adopting Directive 2014/53/EU which requires common _chargers_ but says nothing about the port that the phone uses. As far as I can tell this is only for the back half of the charger / brick that connects to the wall. Yet the Apple statement, and most of the articles about this (including the linked one), are talking about the phone's connector and talks about lightning and usb-c. Most of t…

The thing that plugs into the wall is already regulated (for every electronic device, not just chargers). That is why you don't have to rewire your house when you buy a new phone. This directive is specifically for the bit that connects to your phone.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#219
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I carry two phones, my private Android phone (my personal preference) and an iPhone imposed on me by work. Not having to bother with two sets of cables would be a welcome improvement. As for "not moving the needle", every little thing sums up. Also, it's not just the cables - manufacturing lines, shelf space, redundant labor, ...

So because it would be more convenient for you we need government intervention?

No. Because it would be better for the environment.

Re: EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for charging cable standard

#220

I'm with Apple on this one. Apple has kept working on improving the charging experience for its phones over time. The original iPhone cable, then lightning, then wireless charging. This stifles innovation. Also: doesn't the government have more pressing concerns to worry about? I doubt Apple's lobbying against this for some nefarious reason, like locking users into their proprietary technology.

Lightning is best remembered for being such ancient technology that already in the year of its release, the connector was incapable of providing enough bandwidth for even a modest 1080p video signal.

This eventually forced Apple into creating a lossy Lightning-to-HDMI adapter that would receive low bitrate h264 from your professional use iPad and decode it into its final artifact riddled form for output on HDMI.

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