General > General Technical Chat

The EU is enforcing USB-C on portable devices

<< < (54/111) > >>

SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: eugene on June 24, 2022, 03:46:55 pm ---[...]
Because manufacturers would not free to make products without USB-C.
[...]

--- End quote ---

Of course not, that's the whole point of the regulation?  I.e. just like a lamp has to plug in to your nearest wall outlet, a rechargeable device has to plug in to USB-C.    I don't see a problem with that, and many benefits.

The advantage of allowing proprietary-only plugs are really only the ability to fleece the consumer.  Are you in favour of fleecing consumers??

SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: Zero999 on June 24, 2022, 04:22:55 pm ---Polemic remarks aside, the problem is if USB-C is made mandatory, of course manufacturers could add another connector, if a better standard comes along, but they're still stuck with the having to have the old obsolete USB-C connector. Hopefully the law will be reviewed and updated, if necessary, top prevent this.

--- End quote ---

As I mentioned earlier, that would prevent a wireless-only solution with no connector at all, if USB-C must be there.
I think some replied that I didn't read the proposal if I claimed that. But please show the part that says it would be possible. Otherwise I stand by my claim: that would prevent any solution WITHOUT any connector at all. And this is just an example.

As was hinted here and there, I highly suspect the main driver behind this is NOT to make people's lives easier. It's to pretend doing something to limit e-waste. And the relevance of that, after some analysis, would be relatively easy to debunk IMHO.

The relevance of comparing that to mains plugs is uh, very poor. It's a completely different context and rationale.

PlainName:

--- Quote ---I already have a USB powered charger for my toothbrush, too..
--- End quote ---

Oral-B?

<microseconds later>Oh, a tenner from Amazon. Hmmm. Almost as much as the brush but tempting...

Still a captive cable, though. Wonder why that is.

Kyle_from_somewhere:

--- Quote from: eugene on June 24, 2022, 02:09:44 pm ---My issue with the law is that it stifles free markets.

--- End quote ---

Free markets don't exist. They're only a thought experiment that relies on a bunch of assumptions that are often not true in real life.

eugene:

--- Quote from: madires on June 24, 2022, 04:12:36 pm ---When the free market starts hurting people shouldn't it be limited or regulated for the greater good?

--- End quote ---

Sure, there are cases where it makes sense. Some people might point at monopolies, but I would argue that monopolies are a distinct example of a free market ailing, so regulations might be put into place to restore its health. I understand that I'm expressing something of a ideology here, that a free market is always the best system provided it is allowed to be healthy and flourish. Not everyone agrees with that ideology, but I honestly don't see how this particular situation of multiple charging ports is improved in more than a trivial way at the expense of a free market. I mean, I have thought hard about it, and read the first few pages of this thread to understand the viewpoints of others, but I honesty can't think of a significant real world advantage to the regulation.

In any case, I think it's nearly universally true that all laws are intended for the greater good, possibly at the expense of a few. But it's never black and white. The advantages need to be weighed against the disadvantages. The number of people that benefit and the degree to which they benefit needs to be compared to the cost, whether to a few or to many. If a regulation makes things slightly more convenient for some, but adds real financial cost to almost everyone, then it doesn't seem like a good tradeoff. As I've already explained, the benefit of convenience to me is nearly zero as I will continue to own and use older equipment with micro B connectors. I suspect that the same is true for most people even if they haven't realized it. As for the talk about proprietary connectors, I simply don't see them anywhere on rechargeable products. None. If they exist on new products, someone please make me aware of them.

I relayed the regulation to a friend that hadn't heard about it. Their immediate response was that they think it's a good idea. They then proceeded to list all the reasons they prefer USB C over micro-B. But when asked if they thought a law should be passed requiring it on every product with a charging port, they admitted that a law doesn't make sense. Plenty of the rechargeable devices they already own have micro-B connectors, so they would need to have micro-B cables for some time to come. Everything rechargeable they ever owned with a proprietary connector has been replaced by now. It's simply a question of USB micro-B, USB C, or whatever other standard naturally emerges along with growing technology.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod