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Now Apple users can truly flex (libranet.de)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/memes@sopuli.xyz
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[+] -12 points 3 years ago (7 children)

The EU forcing Apple to adopt USB C is a good thing for everyone

Apple adopting USB-C is good for everyone. But I’m skeptical that the “EU forcing them” aspect is. It basically means we’ll never see a new interconnect standard for phones evolve beyond USB-C. If someone found a way to improve the durability of hybrid fiber+copper cabling, it would face immense artificial barriers to adoption.

Imagine if this decision had been made a decade ago, and micro-USB became the EU standard. Would we even have USB-C today?

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Well sure. But what u r saying is under the assumption that laws cannot be changed. Right now, the best and most widely adopted standard (by a very large margin) is USB-C.

    There r two possibilities for this standard to be replaced:

    1. A new, wired standard: While this possibility exists, the probability of this happening is extremely low. USB-C solves all problems that a port can solve. The chances of new wired tech evolving beyond this are close to none.

    2. A wireless standard: This could be the most probable replacement in the future. However, looking at the state of this tech right now, it still has a very long time to become usable in consumer tech. When this happens, the laws would be changed to keep up with the times.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    But what u r saying is under the assumption that laws cannot be changed.

    Tend not to change. The parliament will move on and forget about the issue. It's not gonna revisit this decision every 6 months.

    This is why the whole medical field in the US still uses fax machines on a regular basis. It was encoded in legislation and then never removed.

    USB-C solves all problems that a port can solve.

    Tell me you're under 25 without telling me you're under 25. This has been said many times before. USB-C is frankly a bit of a mess (I mean, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2 Gen 2...)

    There were ideas about using USB-C for power & networking in houses, replacing most of your wiring with USB cabling. That didn't pan out. You can only use USB-C to drive a 4k display over relatively short distances. It's often flaky. There are things that could be fixed with USB-D or whatever. This adds an obstacle to that goal.

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  • [–] -2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    the assumption laws cannot be changed

    Laws can be changed but it’s extremely challenging to do so. Any new competing standard is going to inevitably be driven by one company that stands to gain the most from it. And no lawmaker is going to expand the law to allow USB-C or this new interconnect without a huge amount of “lobbying” by that company.

    Laws like this are why you can’t buy a plane ticket with your real name if your first name is “Mran” (FAA mandated protocols interpret it as “Mr. An”) and why digital check images are still sent using one of the most inefficient image formats in existence (some idiotic lawmaker decided it would be a good idea to make sure the images could be “digitally shred”). When technical standards are enshrined in law, they tend to stay that way forever.

    USB-C solves all problems that a port can solve

    I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or are really just that naive. I’ve heard people say the same thing about USB-A, mini-USB, micro-USB, firewire, DVI, mDP, and HDMI. And look where we are now.

    A wireless standard

    The law doesn’t impede wireless advancements. It just says that if it has a port, it must be USB-C.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    1. Laws and regulations being slow to change is a problem, true. However, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't make laws and regulations. Your criticisms should be directed at the slowness of the system and propose ways on how to improve its speed. Scrapping the entire system "cuz it is slow" is kinda dumb.

    2. About USB C being the best wired standard out there, I was not sarcastic. People have said many things. I did not say that USB A/HDMI blah blah blah are the best standards. I said the USB-C is the best wired standard that we've got. If u believe that there is a better standard in picture, could you please point it out?

    3. I was not aware that the EU regulations do not involve wireless standards. Which proves my point even further. This law is the EU recognising that the best wired standard of today and the next decade at least is USB-C. Again, if u believe that there is an emerging standard better than USB-C, please drop a link to it. The EU recognizes that we haven't hit a limit in the wireless standard innovation. Hence, they haven't imposed these laws on them.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    That's not really how it works. If someone can evolve the standard he's totally free to do it and nobody would object. Standards are by definition collaborative, they can be evolved.

    I think the matter was around forcing a proprietary cable, which was also worse and expensive

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