Some U.S. Democratic senators are planting seeds for legislation to establish one charging standard for all devices sold in the USA after the European Union (EU) made a similar decision earlier this month — reports The Verge.
A new EU agreement requires that all smartphones, tablets, and several other consumer electronics sold in the region feature a USB-C port for charging by fall 2024.
In a Thursday letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders urged the U.S. Commerce Department to develop a strategy to force manufacturers to stick to a common charging port across all mobile devices.
“The EU has wisely acted in the public interest by taking on powerful technology companies over this consumer and environmental issue,” the senators wrote in their letter. “The United States should do the same.”
The senators went on to argue that proprietary charging standards, like Apple’s Lightning port, lead to unnecessary amounts of e-waste. What’s more, requiring multiple charging cables serves to complicate portability and space management, not to mention become a financial burden, for owners of multiple devices from different manufacturers.
“Year after year, Americans pile our outdated chargers onto landfills while we shell out more money to tech companies for new ones,” Markey told The Verge on Thursday. “This waste is driving consumers up the wall, and it’s driving our planet deeper into a climate crisis. I’m asking the Department of Commerce to follow the lead of the European Union and look into solutions so that we can save our money, our sanity, and our planet.”
While the EU has chosen to adopt USB-C as the universal charging standard for the region, the U.S. may go a different route. The senators’ request for “a comprehensive strategy” gives the Commerce Department a wider berth. That being the case, this could even lead to the body developing its own standard.
It’s unclear if this letter from these senators will gain any traction. But if there is a movement in the U.S. to switch to USB-C for mobile devices, chances are high that Canada will follow in the footsteps of its neighbour down south.
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So, when a company decides they want to move on from USB-C in a few years, they won’t be able to until they get a bunch of giant bureaucracies to agree on allowing it. Genius.
The point is to get everyone to deploy using the same standard.
the feds stepped in because sh!!ty companies like Apple are incapable of self-regulating on these matters.
And it’s definitely a sore point for the consumer. The fragmentation in its current state is ridiculous.
If people are opposed to regulation, then the people need to get the corporations to lead and adopt gold standards.
The fact that Apple’s macs are all USB C but require a separate cable (that doesn’t come with their iPhone) to connect it to their mac says enough to me.
How long has it been since lightning had any evolution vs USB c, which now supports USB 4 standards, power delivery which is standard and not proprietary,, display, ethernet, and so much more.
Just wait until the next USB C iPhone, then you can cry about leaving a standard behind. USB c isn’t going anywhere for a very long time. Lightning has very limited lifespan remaining.
Though removing USB A standards that are still in use today doesn’t seem practical.
Where were these clowns when they took away the 3.5mm jack forcing people to buy untold millions of adapters that filled the oceans and lead to humans disappearing from the face of the Earth. /s
Oh..”that took courage”. Joni..where art thou.
USB-C is here to stay and it is the future, nearly all new computers come with at a minimum a single USB-C port, some have 3 or 4 ports.
That said, USB2 and USB3/3.1 must not go away anytime soon, way too many devices still rely on that technology–especially RGB lighting and printers/scanners, new laptop & desktop systems must carry all 3 major ports:
USB2, USB3, and USB-C.
You dont really need a dedicated USB2 port just a USB3 port that is compatible with USB2 as typically they are.
Unfortunately, RGB lighting needs specific USB2 ports off a motherboard. In time that will change, but not yet.
The U.S. is going to hell in a hand basket; children are being slaughtered in school, women will soon be required to wear burkas, thousands of people die each year b/c they can’t afford health care and the U.S. senate is concerned about mobile port standards!
¯_(ツ)_/¯
This is typical capitalist America we’re talking about though.
They’ll be fine, they are the #1 country in the world…..
Don’t worry, 90% of elected officials wouldn’t know which one is a USB-C cable is if shown together with a Lightning one 🤣
I don’t get it. Nothing lasts forever. What do you do when something better than USB-c comes along. Come to think of it, why would anyone consider trying to make something better if they can’t hope to be able to sell it?
Lighting clicks better then any usb-c ive inserted. but i would rather everyone have lighting. just saying; just switch to all usb-c apple; all your products need to have the same ports! it bugs the hell out of me