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

appleinsider.com

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

#311

Post by jakobegger »

djannzjkzxn wrote: post #272
samatman wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, not that it's relevant to the topic at hand, but if they do so, I'm leaving the ecosystem. Not being able to charge from a backpack or a car is a non-starter for me. I go weeks without plugging my phone into the wall, but when I need it, I really need it.

Apple has worked on wireless proximity charging where the device merely needs to be within a few feet of the charger. I hear there are serious engineering challenges that make this hard to achieve but I don’t think they will remove the port with the current QI charging experience. Maybe there will be a charging battery you can just throw in the same bag as the phone and the phone will charge.

> ... serious engineering challenges ...

I'd say there are serious physical challenges with this problem. Wireless power transfer over distances of more than an inch without big parabolic antennas is about as realistic as hoverboards.

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

#312

Post by vineyardmike »

nojvek wrote: post #273
ashildr wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what specific kind of USB-C cable will be allowed to be packed with my next shiny for the decades to come? What kind of USB-PD will the phone be allowed to support and - if the phone supports a higher voltage/amperage combination than the EU fixed in 2020 - will I have to buy an additional cable to support this? How did we ever switch from SCART to HDMI after the EU forced the TV manufacturers to only support SCAR…

Macs come with usb-c. Why can’t iPhones be also usb-c? I’m not sure I fully understand why everything in the world can’t be usb-c?

Because not everything should be USBC, and not everything needs to be USBC.

USB C won’t be the standard forever, and it’s a standard that takes many forms and has caused lots of confusion, so it’s not exactly the gold standard.

USB C isn’t forever, eventually USB D will come around, and what’ll happen? The EU and their (often targeted anti-American-tech) laws will hold phones back, or leave themselves out of the market.

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

#314

Post by vineyardmike »

SiempreViernes wrote: post #86
GeekyBear wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's charger already had a standard USB-A port and has moved to having a standard USB-C port. It's the cable that they include with the iPhone that has a USB connector on the charger end and a lightning port on the phone end. That included cable allows you to charge with any manufacturer's USB-C charger in the same way that the previous version of the cable worked with any USB-A charging port. So, in summary, the…

> So, in summary, the cable Apple gives you works with other manufacturers chargers, and the charger Apple gives you works with other phones, using a standard USB-C cable that, I would imagine, came with the phone. The point is you still need extra stuff just to charge your phone when you switch manufacturer. So what apple provides is in fact not a "common charger", but merely a transformer+rectifier that, using addi…

Meanwhile, every other electronic that ships with USB C never requires extra stuff.

No extra stuff to connect to old devices, no extra stuff to connect to vide/displays, no extra stuff to connect to network connections, etc.

For a connector that was supposed to reduce electronic waste and simply connections, USB C has generated a lot of extra cables required.

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

#315

Post by FeepingCreature »

jonplackett wrote: post #279

I thought all these EU tech regulations might do some good But now when I arrive at any website I have to accept cookie policy, then I have to accept that they will invade my privacy and log my data (or waste half an hour un-checking boxes) and only then can I get down to the business of not signing up to their newsletter and not downloading their app. Maybe this is simpler but tech companies seem to find loopholes f…

You don't have to accept that, and if you waste half an hour unchecking boxes that site is doing malicious compliance.

In my experience it's three clicks or so to turn off data gathering. I could not be happier with the GDPR.

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

#317

Post by georgebarnett »

thomasahle wrote: post #302
defnotashton2 wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how you can think this is needed in the slightest unless you literally can't make a decision yourself. I'm sorry but you can buy a USB cable or adapter to charge any phone in the world at any gas station, or corner convince store. This just simply isn't a problem, it's not a quality of life issue. It's just not. Buy cables with breakout mini, c, and tbunderbolt for 5$. Solved. This type of regulati…

> you can buy a USB cable or adapter to charge any phone in the world at any gas station, or corner convince store. And that's exactly because of the first round of EU standardisation. The gas station now has to stock only USB and Apple. If we still had different cables for every single brand of phone, there's no way you'd be able to get them all at most, if at any, gas stations. I recently had to get a new USB-c to…

.. so it’s Apples fault that Android phone makers can’t produce a credible USB-C headphone adapter? Wow. That’s some seriously backwards logic.

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

#318

Post by jakobegger »

jonplackett wrote: post #279

I thought all these EU tech regulations might do some good But now when I arrive at any website I have to accept cookie policy, then I have to accept that they will invade my privacy and log my data (or waste half an hour un-checking boxes) and only then can I get down to the business of not signing up to their newsletter and not downloading their app. Maybe this is simpler but tech companies seem to find loopholes f…

The EU regulations are doing one good thing: they are giving a small competitive advantage to companies that don't track you. For example, I've stopped using Google search, because I had enough of the creepy tracking on Google. I rarely watch Youtube videos anymore, because I don't want to click the consent button.

Some companies might start to rethink if they really need all this tracking technology. For example, I've removed Google Analytics from all sites that I was responsible for when the GDPR went into effect. I've decided that the potential liablility, and the inconvenience for the user was just not worth the small upside of knowing how many people clicked which link.

I've also stopped including tracking pixels in email newsletters, and I've also convinced others to stop using Google Analytics.

With the GDPR, you now at least know that some websites are going to do everything to track you, and it's an informed choice.

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

#319

Post by vineyardmike »

thomasahle wrote: post #302
defnotashton2 wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how you can think this is needed in the slightest unless you literally can't make a decision yourself. I'm sorry but you can buy a USB cable or adapter to charge any phone in the world at any gas station, or corner convince store. This just simply isn't a problem, it's not a quality of life issue. It's just not. Buy cables with breakout mini, c, and tbunderbolt for 5$. Solved. This type of regulati…

> you can buy a USB cable or adapter to charge any phone in the world at any gas station, or corner convince store. And that's exactly because of the first round of EU standardisation. The gas station now has to stock only USB and Apple. If we still had different cables for every single brand of phone, there's no way you'd be able to get them all at most, if at any, gas stations. I recently had to get a new USB-c to…

Sounds like every other phone should actually switch to lightning to solve your mini jack issue. The prevalence of iPhone-ready cables proves that the ubiquity of iPhone cables is adequate- maybe even better than USB C in some markets.

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

#320

Post by dijit »

vineyardmike wrote: post #319
thomasahle wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can buy a USB cable or adapter to charge any phone in the world at any gas station, or corner convince store. And that's exactly because of the first round of EU standardisation. The gas station now has to stock only USB and Apple. If we still had different cables for every single brand of phone, there's no way you'd be able to get them all at most, if at any, gas stations. I recently had to get a new USB-c to…

Sounds like every other phone should actually switch to lightning to solve your mini jack issue. The prevalence of iPhone-ready cables proves that the ubiquity of iPhone cables is adequate- maybe even better than USB C in some markets.

But it has a patent which does not allow unlimited use. https://patents.google.com/patent/US9077794B2/en

Also; iPhone domination is not nearly as prevalent outside of the US.

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