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Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by microtherion on Friday January 31, 2020 @02:34PM (#22204783)
Micro USB would be kind of mediocre. But if the rule had been in place 20 years ago, cell phones today might be featuring SCSI connectors.

And of course, all laptops would be mandated to have VGA connectors, eliminating a ton of conference room presentation guesswork.

Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by kevingadd on Friday January 31, 2020 @07:43PM (#22207579)
Why would you use SCSI to charge a phone? It'd be a standardized power connector, probably like those small round ones that are used for all sorts of household appliances.

Similarly, your projector is already using a standardized power cable: The one that goes into your wall socket.

For cables that don't terminate with a regular 2/3 prong on the other end, there are a few standardized shapes there too. My monitors and PC PSUs all take the same sort of connector on the non-wall-socket end even if they pull different amperages.

Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by nomel on Friday January 31, 2020 @11:30PM (#22208672)
The charge ports of cellphones have almost always had data capabilities built in.
Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by anticensor on Saturday February 01, 2020 @06:29AM (#22209980)
Old Nokia chargers disagree with various barrel connectors. It is not like "Anyone with thin-barreled Nokia charger?" was in the distant past.
Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by nomel on Wednesday February 05, 2020 @03:29PM (#22250678)
Correct, thus my use of "almost always". For an example of an earlier dual purpose port, the Sony Ericsson line from 2000.
Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by tripzilch on Monday February 03, 2020 @09:46AM (#22224512)
> But if the rule had been in place 20 years ago, cell phones today might be featuring SCSI connectors.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-9-2020-0070...

"5. Points out that the Commission, without hampering innovation, should ensure that the legislative framework for a common charger will be scrutinised regularly in order to take into account technical progress; reiterates the importance of research and innovation in this domain to improve existing technologies and come up with new ones;"

Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by oxfordmale on Saturday February 01, 2020 @03:02AM (#22209348)
The law doesn't define the protocol. Apple could introduce USB-D as superior standard provided it is not proprietary. If this is a superior standard, other companies will adapt it too, becoming the new standard charger.
Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by microtherion on Saturday February 01, 2020 @06:07PM (#22213851)
I believe you are mistaken. The EU resolution calls for the development of "a common standard" (to be updated from time to time): https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-9-2020-0070...

Implementing a different standard, even if it is non-proprietary, won't do.

Re:EU lawmakers snub Apple's pleas, vote to push for chargin... by tripzilch on Monday February 03, 2020 @09:48AM (#22224538)
They call on the industry to agree on a common standard. 15 years ago. They explicitly do not mandate the protocol.