It does make sense that all new features are optional. E.g. 8k resolution does not need to be supported by your TV/monitor or VRR does as well not need to be supported by a Bluray player.

As long as the devices can communicate and agree on signal, resolution etc. it's all fine.

If anything is a mess, it's the cables, where you have to be careful to read whether high resolutions or ethernet or what passes through that cable is supported.

If anything, it showed Verge (I think it was them who published that article) don't understand the purpose of the standard and intentionally tried to create controversy, where really isn't one.

Maybe that makes technical sense on paper, but in my experience, all these things quickly add up to it being impossible for a consumer or system integrator to know, beforehand, if something is going to work. I just setup a monitor with a built-in KVM, and it's practically impossible going by the specs supported (if you can find it) and whatever is in or not in the manuals to know a setup will work without just trying it. You have the monitor, webcam, two computers, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals, and then you need to juggle HDMI, USB 2.x and 3.x, Display Port, and Thunderbolt. That doesn't even take into the fact that USB 2.x and 3.x are essentially physically incompatible due to interference at the connector site if they're nearby each other. There's also the myriad of ways on how something doesn't work as expected (4K video only over USB3.x or or a USB 3.x hub not having USB 2.x backwards compatibility or whatever else).

So, thousands of dollars of equipment working together cannot possibly be verified before purchase. It's insane.

There’s gotta be some lobbying or consulting firm hired by manufacturers that’s using the same strategy between the two standards.

The consortiums don’t seem to realize that short-term profits are coming at their expense of their brand.

There's no need for lobbying by manufacturers since the consortiums are directly controlled by the manufacturers. If the brand looses value, they switch to the next one.

Why would it come at the expense of long-term profits? The EU has given a legal mandate to USB-IF, you literally are not legally allowed to use anyone else's connection standards. What "profit loss" could possibly occur under a literal government-mandated monopoly requirement?

Display standards aren't quite there yet but HDMI is effectively a monopoly in the living-room space and most people use them for mass-market (low-end) monitors that are the most common. Effectively it might as well be a mandate, especially when DisplayPort comes with much shorter cable lengths/etc that require equipment reconfiguration.

My belief is that more individuals would be seeking out Thunderbolt accessories over USB.

When you're the only game in town, brand doesn't matter so much.

display port?

Not just can, they're only certifying "2.1" now or something like that.

Yes, they said that 2.0 doesn't exist anymore:

1. HDMI 2.0 no longer exists, and devices should not claim compliance to v2.0 as it is not referenced any more

2. The features of HDMI 2.0 are now a sub-set of 2.1

3. All the new capabilities and features associated with HDMI 2.1 are optional (this includes FRL, the higher bandwidths, VRR, ALLM and everything else)

4. If a device claims compliance to 2.1 then they need to also state which features the device supports so there is “no confusion” (hmmmm)

https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/when-hdmi-2-1-isnt-hdmi-2-...