• appa
    4·
    5 years ago

    Two predictions:

    1. it will be harder to charge older devices that will still serviceable for years to come (e-readers or older gen phones running lighter ROMs)
    2. stifles a much needed pivot away from the notoriously flakey USB in pther sectors
    • appa
      3·
      5 years ago

      Just read the last paragraph again.

      One of the most ubiquitous pieces of e-waste is device chargers. We seem them as disposable because every new device comes with one.

      Wouldn’t it make more sense to make certain chargers and connection not be bundled with the device instead of mandating the primary wired communications port specification? This solution seems to be weirdly misaligned to the percieved problem…

      • AgreeableLandscape
        2·
        5 years ago

        Agreed. Chargers should be sold separately.

        But more to the point, another, much more important response is E-waste should be to implement right to repair laws and prevent un-repairable devices from being sold.

  • AgreeableLandscape
    3·
    5 years ago

    In that case, the standard connector needs to be free and open source, this isn’t debatable. I don’t want the entire EU population to have to pay licensing fees to one scumbag company, and have one scumbag company decide how much connectors should cost.

    • k_o_t
      3·
      5 years ago

      isn’t usb already open-source and totally free?

      • AgreeableLandscape
        1·
        5 years ago

        I couldn’t find any definitive reference to USB being open source or free on Wikipedia.

        • k_o_t
          2·
          5 years ago

          surprisingly it’s hard to find definitive info, but according to this wikepedia page you have to pay 5000$ to get a valid USB vendor ID to actually sell stuff with USBs in them, and you have to pay 3500$ to per two years! to just use the USB logo!

          Sounds very FOSSn’t to me…

          Also, here is the exchange that a few people who decided to basically get one entity approved for USB ID and for that organization to basically issue USB vendor IDs to all FOSS projects, had with the USB-IF, where USB-IF basically told them heck no

          anyway, this is a huge revelation for me, I’ve always kind of assumed that such a ubiquitous protocol is totally FOSS, but turns out it probably isn’t… At least Intel open-sourced Thunderbolt, which always used mini-DisplayPort connectors, which are totally open-source, to it’s practically an open protocol and implementation, however Thunderbolt 3 uses USB-C, which is apparently not open-source…

          • AgreeableLandscape
            2·
            5 years ago

            Yeah, it sucks, especially if the EU plans to feed that company against the will of consumers.

  • QuentinCallaghan
    2·
    5 years ago

    Tim Cook is probably whimpering right now while Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave.