Earlier quoted context omitted.
My only thought is what will happen when someone invents a new charger that is significantly superior to what currently exists.
Like wireless charging pads?
Probably not, Gian said superior
EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
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Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#412Does anyone feel it is a little strange to have a government entity mandating a physical interconnect? I guess it has worked out well enough for receptacles. But on a phone it acts as a data connection as well. I guess I just wonder if in 20 years will every device still have a USB-C port on it in some odd location? No one is using it anymore, but it is still mandatory on everything.
(I don't know if you are, but) this is what I find quite weird about Americans: they think it's unfair for the government to regulate a trillion dollar company, but they find nothing wrong when a company treats its platform like fiefdom (i.e. no rights for the users). You can be banned from Twitter for saying something like "men aren't women", but God forbid we reduce Apple's profits by making them not sell so many d…
That's because Europeans view "freedom" from an individual perspective, it doesn't distinguish who is causing its infringement (e.g. boss, neighbor, government, corporation, etc). Whereas in America "freedom" exclusively means "freedom [from government]."
That's why when Europeans talk about "freedom" from your boss, Americans get confused. In America if you can privatize a thing (no matter how monopolistically) it isn't a "freedom" infringement (e.g. HOAs) because that isn't what the term freedom means there.
That's why corporations run rampant in the US and the citizens continue to pushback on any government attempted intervention because that government intervention is viewed as a freedom-problem but the corporate invasion is not.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#413Earlier quoted context omitted.
They would block all shipments of Apple devices at the border of the EU after a certain point. The EU controls the customs rules for most of Europe.
So, it's the latter. They will have another excuse to increase the prices further. "We had to spend $BILLIONS to change the design of the iPhone, so this is why the new iPhone EU Edition is going to be 1400€". This is the kind of thing that really makes me understand Brexit.
I'm not sur if you know, but Apple complies with various local laws, and it impacts their margins.
Interoperability favors competition, the EU is all about fair markets, not protecting Apple's margins.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
One nice and welcome example of consumer-friendly legislation, btw: The EU prohibited mobile operators from charging voice and data roaming fees within the EU. So, now on holiday in Spain, say, you can just keep using your mobile contract including free minutes and data. (A typical deal is 10 GB data.) When traveling outside the EU, it's still best to buy a local SIM to avoid the ludicrous roaming charges, but there'…
That's strange because I have separate roaming data in my contract and it's way less than my local one.
There are some provisions about ”normal usage”, and operators are allowed to charge extra in certain cases. But not more than 3€/GB.
As a comparison, my operator charges roughly ten times that for roaming in the US (and in 250 MB blocks, expiring in 24 hours).
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#415From the announcement https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_... (linked in article) > Today, the Commission is proposing: > A harmonised charging port for electronic devices: USB-C will be the common port. > Harmonised fast charging technology will help prevent that different producers unjustifiably limit the charging speed and will help to ensure that charging speed is the same when using any c…
Does this mean the iPhone going powerless (EDIT: portless) would render the rule moot?
> going powerless
A device that uses no power, like a rock, is clearly beyond the scope of this law ("electronic devices").
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#416Does anyone feel it is a little strange to have a government entity mandating a physical interconnect? I guess it has worked out well enough for receptacles. But on a phone it acts as a data connection as well. I guess I just wonder if in 20 years will every device still have a USB-C port on it in some odd location? No one is using it anymore, but it is still mandatory on everything.
No, I don't. Here the EU is creating legislation that forces manufacturers to increase interoperability, be more consumer-friendly, and more climate friendly. This all seems within the remit of governments to me. > I guess I just wonder if in 20 years will every device still have a USB-C port on it in some odd location? No one is using it anymore, but it is still mandatory on everything. Or course not, it's not like…
I don't believe they should mandate a specific port, but I do believe they should mandate that any nonstandard port must make a show in a court of law that it's on technical merit, rather than creating interoperability problems for it's own sake.
I believe that in general consumer laws should say that companies cannot create interoperability problems for it's own sake and when doing so must have a salient technical reason, whether the reason is so salient is for a court to decide.
But that is a more specific version of my more general view that I believe that any form of crippleware, defined as companies investing time and resources into generating an inferior quality product should be illegal.
Essentially, I believe that companies can only make a worse product from a consumer perspective, if it were cheaper for them to make that product, they must be legally required to not make a product worse except to cut their own production costs.
Researching and producing their own port when an existing port suffices their needs would fall under this.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#417Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know enough about the EU to say if the laws will adapt. But in the US, I very much view it as once something is legislated it becomes a permanent fixture of our society.
This is already a change from previous legislation that effectively mandated micro-USB. So yeah, it can be done.
Man, lightning is FAR better than the fragile micro-USB. I’ve had to repair microUSB ports multiple times.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder what % of phone users have actually used a cable to move data to or from their phone in the last couple of years. I have, but I'm a weird nerd who likes to plug in removable storage once every 6 months or so.
The ones who still own their data? If data is money, they can also afford to buy new phones. iXpand USB-Lightning drives are supported by some iOS apps which process large files, e.g. media playback and editing. There's no need for everything to be lowest-common-denominator. Product management is not statistics, it is aspirational leadership for upward mobility in human values, including but not limited to function,…
iPhone can backup to a PC or NAS wirelessly, no reason for a cable other than charging.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
Micro USB became ubiquitous because Europe put forth a commission in 2009 to make it so. Before that every phone had their own weird charger. It was hell. Life got much better after 2009. Guess who didn't participate? Apple. Because they weren't forced to. This time, they are, and life will get much better. On American government, yea, it's hard to trust something that is bought and paid for by corporate America, Eur…
Thank god they didn’t comply. Micro usb is appalling compared to lightening, but if Apple had complied we would probably be stuck with it.
Yeah, odd to me that people point to microUSB as a victory. That connector is absolutely terrible! I’ve had to fix microUSB ports multiple times. It’s super fragile.
Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones
#420Can they please mandate replaceable USB-C sockets then because I see a shit load more broken ones than I do lightning connectors. And usually the infernal USB-C things are soldered into the logic board of whatever resulting in damage to that too. Also USB-C sockets are impossible to replace without very specialist tooling. Really not a big fan of this unless there are some additional constraints on it.
> usually the infernal USB-C things are soldered into the logic board There is no reason why a USB-C receptacle can't be mounted on an easily-replaceable flex/daughterboard like Apple does it with Lightning. > Also USB-C sockets are impossible to replace without very specialist tooling. On the other hand, I can get spare USB-C receptacles from any number of local distributors. I'm not limited to getting an exact matc…
Yes I agree. In fact Apple do that with the MacBook Air.
I’d like to see that mandated on all devices.