Today this piece of news has been filling my newsfeed.
Apparently it has been decided that all other USB-connectors are banned in the EU in the future except USB-C. The decision has been made in order to reduce electronics waste and I for one stand behind it 100%. No more mini-USB, no more crappy micro-USB, no more a selection of 10 different USB-connectors.
Today, European Parliament, Commission and Council reached an agreement on the European common charger.
In two years, consumers in the EU will finally be able to charge all their devices, including mobile phones, laptops, e-readers and cameras, with the same USB-C charging cable.
The common charger will bring a significant reduction in resource consumption, protect the environment and support consumers.”
Agree in principle. Having a universal standard is a good thing.
Yet again, not for the first time in the last 40 years, I look over at some Midi cables and say a quiet thanks for such an amazing invention, innovation and industry wide acceptance.
Do have to question how that is going to work, hinder/progress innovation etc. Having bureaucrats dictate technology might be an issue? Will USB-C still be the hotness in 2024?
A cross industry panel, what Midi should have been is the way forward?
From what I read this won’t force USB-C ports on synths etc. For now it only applies to phones, computers and whatnot.
The question of USB-C’s validity in two years time is also valid. I’ve been kinda disappointed at how slowly that standard has spread. I got a new MacBook Pro in 2017 with only 4 USB-C ports and five years later, I’m still forced to use dongles to attach basically anything to my laptop.
The USB C connector standard is flexible enough that I don’t think we’ll see problems there any time soon. USB4 already supports 240W via PD and 40 gigabit of bandwidth. I don’t think there’s much reason for an eventual USB5/Thunderbolts 5 spec to switch connectors.
I get what they want to do, and their reasoning, but the USB-C physical connector is not ideal.
iPhones will be more fragile. The Lightning physical connector is far more durable, so it annoys me to have that forced onto a (future) device that I use repeatedly, daily. I’ll probably just go full on with wireless /magnetic charging.
But yea, I’ll def need less cables, though I already have them so does that mean more waste for now, but less in the future ? What about how using fewer cables will create more wear on those cables, and make them more prone to be replaced by… more cables?
I have a few USB break out cables that have a USB-C, USB-micro, Lightning connector fan out. Those are handy for traveling. Guess those will wind up as waste as well.
And of course I’m only talking about physical qualities. Data throughput is entirely different all together.
Not tryna start an argument, but how so? my well used 5 year old android (except for a few months when it blissfully sat in a drawer unused) uses usb c and have never had a single issue so far.
I’ve had USB-C and USB-B ports on devices loosen and break.
It’s the female cable going into what is effectively a male+female port, making the small male connector that floats inside the receiving port prone to breakage.
This design goes back to USB1.0.
USB-C is only the latest iteration.
Lightning is just male connector into female port. No different than an audio Jack. No floating connector inside the receiving port = no weak point for strain to compromise it.
Sounds sensible to reduce waste and move upwards, unlike the regressive Muppets longing for a return to imperial measurements in the UK. PD itself is quite a progressive idea, but I wonder if it’s foolproof, it’s quite something to use your laptop charger on your phone.
Was hoping it would have come a lot sooner. Seems a long time since they originally brought it up for discussion, but now it’s about to arrive, it feels like it’s come a little too late now i’ve already got a ridiculous amount of cables.
Standardisation to reduce waste is a good thing, but there needs to be an industry wide cable and port panel set up to come up with new standards if at some point it will hold back innovation that will improve life and the world in some way.
Maybe though, there’ll be 2 different models for different markets and the EU will lose out once the standard holds it back before it’s ready to adapt to a new standard. We’ll see. I’m sure most avenues will have been explored and all this has been thought of.
I’m all for this, but this shouldn’t be legislated. Companies always agree on various standards without legislation. This shouldn’t have been any different.
Just curious how much of a PITA its gonna be to move forward from USB-C after someone invents something better.
i completely stopped buying products that have micro/mini usb, even if they are something that id like to have overall. I think its getting way better these days but when i see a new product release from a big company that has mini/micro i
saddest part is that there is probably a lifetime worth supply of mini/micro to last us forever because they are so cheap to make, and moving to C is not going to improve environmental side of things that much.
I blame USB for not coming up with future proof solutions and making manufacturers hesitent to switch because “eehhhh theyll probably chage it again in next five years”
This has rarely been true in my lifetime. You can be on the design/steering committee and still not implement the standards you’ve agreed to or in a non-proprietary manner
Besides, if they always agreed, why would anyone have to legislate?
adapters…plenty adapters out there, so everyone will be able to connect anyway so, mh…it’s happened for lots of things in the past and it will still probably happen in the future
