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EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

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Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#621
post #609

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU and most people living within it would disagree with this statement.

Quoted post unavailable.

No, that would be the US buying up every EU tech company that dares to become successful with free helicopter money.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#622

The EU tried very hard, for very many years to signal to the industry "do this yourself so you don't have to legislate it, we don't want to legislate it, you don't want us to legislate it" but Apple (and only Apple) just refused to listen, so here we are. For micro-USB, they got the industry together in a "memorandum of understanding" to get them to self-implement it without regulation, and it worked great - everyone…

>The EU tried very hard, for very many years to signal to the industry "do this yourself so you don't have to legislate it, we don't want to legislate it, you don't want us to legislate it" but Apple (and only Apple) just refused to listen, so here we are.

This doesn’t make the approach any less interventionist. “Either do what we want or we’ll pass an official regulation for you to do what we want” isn’t much of a choice.

Tell me, if Apple truly believes their lightning connector is better, what was the better play here? Intentionally make a worse product (from their perspective) or keep making the better user experience for as long as possible?

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#623
post #409

A law specifying a technical hardware feature on a consumer device not related to safety is ridiculous. Is there no other higher priority for the EU to work on?

Like the law regulating every power cord attached to every AC powered device ever?

That is nominally related to safety, is not mandated EU wide, and if it were would be a great example of a dumb idea unless they standardized on the type G plug. I have encountered four different connectors just this week in the EU, none of which are as safe as the British design.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#624

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

Respectfully, I would claim it's short-sighted to believe that the individual consumer has any real say in what they want, need or get with respect to offerings by trillion-dollar international conglomerates.

There is no such thing as a free and unregulated market. Well, it exists but we call it the law of the jungle.

This is not to say that any regulation is sensible, but this kind of standardization to avoid vendor lock-in and waste is one of the prime examples of sensible stuff.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#625
post #129

Fast-Forward to Autumn 2023 or Spring 2024 : Tim Cook: (40:20) Now let’s talk about iPhone. iPhone has forever changed the world. Every single day people rely on iPhone, from their most demanding tasks to capturing the moments of their lives, streaming their favorite TV shows, playing their favorite games, staying up to date with the news of the world and connecting with friends and loved ones. Tim Cook: (40:42) This…

I thought it was going to have no ports and only wireless charging

Nah, in a move of immense courage they will ditch charging all together and start selling single use iPhones. I can see the dollars rolling in now.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#626

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

The market is not free. Apple already enjoys the fruits of lobbying and market consolidation. Users are not free.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#627

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

> What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. Where are you living that your free market isn't regulated for the benefit of the consumer?

> benefit of the consumer

Says who? USB type-XYZ will be even more beneficial to the consumer in 5 years and the EU governing body is going to what... ? update the books with that? Force all consumer electronics companies to switch? Will they be the new guiding light for all things tech deciding what is "good" for the consumer?

This is a bad take and others who might find it convenient for Apple to forced to do this are looking at this too short-sightedly.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#628
post #609

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU and most people living within it would disagree with this statement.

Quoted post unavailable.

You could flip it round and say that's why the US is lagging behind the EU in environmental protection and consumer rights.

I suspect the correct answer is somewhere between the two approaches.

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#629

As an EU citizen, I am really happy with this decision. I am an iPhone user, but having an iPhone is not ubiquitous here, almost all of my friends/special other, use an Android phone with USB-C. Most of their laptops, Mac or not, use or allow USB-C for charging. This as been the case for a few years now, yet, if I go somewhere for more than a full day and forget my lighting cable, my phone will become a useless paper…

This is such a short sighted view. What just happened is, EU, a political organization enforcing the use of a technology on a company which operates on free market. It's Apples best interest to make technology that the consumers want so that they can sell more units of that. A political organization like EU has no say in this. EU citizens already make this decision for themselves by voting with money and choosing to…

You think Apple is dragging its feet on iPhone USB-C adoption because it's in the best interest of consumers to do so?

Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

#630

Why do people think it is a good thing to have this enforced by law is beyond me. I don't see any win besides a minor convenience. A lightning cable weighs almost nothing and it's not a big deal to have one around. As to lightning port limitations, I question whether usb-c will give average iPhone users any other advantage other than charging their phone. What are people gonna do with it other than charge their phone…

> Why do people think it is a good thing to have this enforced by law is beyond me. School shootings - why do we have to enforce not commiting school shootings with the stupid law , surely everyone can get together and agreee murdering a 10 year old for fun is evil and just not do it?

Kind of a ridiculous comparison. If you absolutely must compare this to school shootings, compare it this way:

Should a national government mandate only one method of security that every school must implement, or allow states/provinces/districts to experiment with what works for them? Even if the national government improves security in the short term, there is a strong possibility that the bureaucracy of national government's slowness to adapt will cause security to be worse in the long term.

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