131–140 of 222 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess you're a believer in this "invisible hand" cult.
The "invisible hand" as used in the context of economcis is not a "cult". It's a widely accepted basic metaphor in economics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_hand The only disagreement is in how much of an effect it has.
Given that this whole thing was about forcing one bad player, Apple, to do the right thing, why not sunset these laws in five to ten years? That way, future innovators don’t have to first get this requirement repealed. USB-C is not the be-all end-all of charging ports. Note for example the female connector with the fragile plastic piece in the middle. Better alternatives will emerge but now they have to pass through…
One one hand getting approval for a specific justifiable situation doesn’t seem like an issue for any company with enough means to design a better universal connector.
On the other hand these “bureaucrats” are presently updating these laws as the previous one became obsolete and the situation isn’t improving organically. Here the bad player is Apple, why are we pointing the finger at the orgs actually making things move and keeping up to date with technology ?
I'm sure I'm not the first person to raise this concern but when tech improves to the point where there's a better option to USB C (or USB C is holding back other advances), are we going to have to wait for legislation to catch up before we can adopt it?
The law allows newer standards to be used. USB-C is just the required minimum. The goal of the law is to ensure standardization of connectors is happening, not to enforce USB-C forever. If "no laws" would be the solution, Apple would have switched to USB-C already. Unfortunately they didn't, proving the law was necessary.
I prefer a free market of multiple options.
Given that this whole thing was about forcing one bad player, Apple, to do the right thing, why not sunset these laws in five to ten years? That way, future innovators don’t have to first get this requirement repealed. USB-C is not the be-all end-all of charging ports. Note for example the female connector with the fragile plastic piece in the middle. Better alternatives will emerge but now they have to pass through…
Why is this “have to pass through bureaucrats” narrative pushed on every single discussion about this topic ? One one hand getting approval for a specific justifiable situation doesn’t seem like an issue for any company with enough means to design a better universal connector. On the other hand these “bureaucrats” are presently updating these laws as the previous one became obsolete and the situation isn’t improving…
What is the next physical connector standard after USB-C? Is there one on the roadmap that is likely to happen or is USB-C "The End of History" when it comes to connectors?
With this kind of legislation, why would anyone invest in creating a connector they cannot market? This pretty much enforces an "end of history" kind of USB-c connector standard. I can see things moving more to the wireless realm (Qi for loading, WiFi/Bluetooth/LoRa for data) after this.
Would a new proprietary charging connector sold and controlled by a single private entity be a good thing for consumers or the market ?
Having that company be forced to go discuss with the regulators first if they want to push to market looks like a decent safeguard to me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is this “have to pass through bureaucrats” narrative pushed on every single discussion about this topic ? One one hand getting approval for a specific justifiable situation doesn’t seem like an issue for any company with enough means to design a better universal connector. On the other hand these “bureaucrats” are presently updating these laws as the previous one became obsolete and the situation isn’t improving…
Because anyone with experience with the political process knows it’s an absolute nightmare and prone to being extremely slow to react to changes.
Up until now the real nightmare has been every company coming up with their own crappy connector and sticking with it for decades.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because we already know what happens when a common port is not mandated. Seriously, before this law was put in place, Europe had been asking companies to agree on a common charging port for more than a decade. The first Memorandum of Understanding on the subject was signed in 2009. Amusingly Apple did sign it before deciding to simply ignore it. That was followed by a directive in 2014 and an impact assessment in 201…
I reckon it takes the market power of an Apple to hold out on proprietary charging ports. Only reason they held out is 1) keep their accessory licensing revenue stream and 2) introduce friction with Android users (see iMessage). Almost no one else has the kind of market power to do that without pissing users off to their detriment. Aside from Apple, the voluntary standards process was working. No one else was still r…
I'm sure I'm not the first person to raise this concern but when tech improves to the point where there's a better option to USB C (or USB C is holding back other advances), are we going to have to wait for legislation to catch up before we can adopt it?
The real solution is to not legislate a standard, but instead to say: "A 10% additional tax shall apply to the sale of any portable device. The tax will be reduced to zero if the device uses the most common charging port in the year the device was sold. The tax is reduced to 5% if it uses the 2nd most common port in the year it was sold." That means any big industry effort to move to a new port will, when it gets mor…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is this “have to pass through bureaucrats” narrative pushed on every single discussion about this topic ? One one hand getting approval for a specific justifiable situation doesn’t seem like an issue for any company with enough means to design a better universal connector. On the other hand these “bureaucrats” are presently updating these laws as the previous one became obsolete and the situation isn’t improving…
Because anyone with experience with the political process knows it’s an absolute nightmare and prone to being extremely slow to react to changes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because anyone with experience with the political process knows it’s an absolute nightmare and prone to being extremely slow to react to changes.
Is charging port technology something we want to be the wild wild west and have companies quickly push random designs ? Up until now the real nightmare has been every company coming up with their own crappy connector and sticking with it for decades.