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iPhone 5 Scorns Standards Promise To European Commission
WebMink writes "Back in 2009, Apple signed an agreement aimed at reducing electronic waste resulting from mobile phone accessories. But this week's launch of the iPhone 5 shows them reneging on that commitment. Instead of including a micro-USB connector on the iPhone, as they agreed to do along with the rest of the phone industry, they created yet another proprietary connector. At a stroke, they have junked earlier iPhone accessories, forced a new industry in Apple-only accessories to arise and broken their promise to the EC. It's a huge missed opportunity both for their customers and for the environment."
No, they shouldn't, but people should just stop buying anything made by Apple.
I still don't really understand the rationale behind the new connector. It seems the whole motivation for it was to make the iPhone thinner... which, I don't see as a real selling point at this point, especially given all the frustration with having to replace accessories or buy a new set of $30 adapters, and the fact that the iPhone 4s is really thin enough. As for simplicity, it really goes against the Apple aesthetic. One picture from the event made that evident.
Meanwhile, the rest of the industry seems to be moving away from wires and toward wireless. Wireless payments, wireless charging, wireless audio, etc. with NFC and other related technologies. Apple is for some strange reason the last to adopt these innovations, and it will be a whole year before they come up with an answer. In the mean time, they're piling on connectors and dongles galore. It's very strange.
Why?
I have iPhone and android and the proprietary connector means I can hook my phone into my car's USB port and stream music apps and play my playlists. Not just music off the storage in no order
If you invest in accessories for the new connector, you'll be less inclined to buy a non-Apple phone.
Perhaps their connector has additional pins for HDMI, but they could have placed a real HDMI connector beside the USB connector for easy docking. Alternately, they could sell a dongle to pipe HDMI video out from USB2 as other manufacturers already do.
But then they couldn't lock their customers in and charge exorbitant licensing fees for their connector.
USB is better because I have a bunch of USB cables right here. When my son loses his apple charging cable I have to go out and buy a new apple licensed cable.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
My Galaxy Tab's cable looks similar to Apple's pre-Lightning cable.
So are we ready to sharpen our pitchforks and light our torches at Samsung?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, new items will increase waste (old items), increase production of new items (emissions), and cause problems for the consumer (multiple cables).
So... unless you have some magical idea that will remove all of this, it will harm the environment.
And really...? Having a new adapter is going to somehow harm the enviornment?!?!
[rolls eyes]...Really......?
Really.
The idea is not to have a drawerful of one-off adapters and connectors, which is where we were before the mini- and micro-usb connectors became common currency. You save the environment by not having to manufacture and supply new cables with each new device, you save it again by only needing as many adapters and cables as you actively use, and finally, you save it by being able to retain and re-use these cables and adapters long after the original device has been retired/broken.
Small steps, agreed, but every little bit helps. And even if they didn't, I'd be for it just because I've got enough cables and adapters stuffed in my equipment drawers as it is.
I'm hoping this is sarcasm. But just in case it isn't. Yes a new adapter is going to harm the environment. People toss devices that use the old connector instead of reusing them. If they had used a standard (USB) connector in the first place you could reuse chargers etc. from other phones. Not only that but you could you switch from iPhone to Android to Windows Phone without having to buy new devices. Also, realize that that is the only reason for all Apple proprietary connectors. So you can't easily switch to a competitors device.
So yeah, Fuck Apple.
If the EU had standardized on a free (no royalties) Lightning connector, everyone would be crying foul over government mandates and how it stifles innovation.
The goal was to get rid of large power bricks attached to proprietary connectors. Apple has for MANY years supplied a power plug with a standard USB connector and used the same cable/connector for 10 years. THAT has reduced waste. What other phone manufacturer has stuck with their plugs that long? How many phones will charge from a 10 year old cable?
What about all those phones that include a micro-USB port for charging, but then have ANOTHER port or a ANOTHER special proprietary cable to get audio/video out?
What? Are you seriously confused? I can only hope this I've misunderstood your sarcasm. There are so many problems with your comment I'm not sure where to start. If the car has a USB port, it's not proprietary. Being able to stream music and control playlists has zero to do with the connector. Just imagine if iPhone had used USB from the start, then everyone would be able to use any phone in "device enabled" car. Thanks for fucking over everyone that doesn't buy your products Apple. The proprietary connector is only there to lock you into Apple products. Apple's new proprietary connector is only there to continue to lock you into new products and to force 3rd party device creators to have to licence the new connector and create a whole new wave of for-iPhone-only devices. Every time you see any proprietary connector, think of it as someone poking you in the eye with a dick. That's really what it is. They are fucking you. In the eye. With a dick.
So yeah, fuck Apple.
No, that is not what they want. That is what _you_ want them to want.
If that is what they had wanted, they would have said so. How hard would it have been to say, "everyone phone should include a micro-usb port that you can use for charging and syncing"?
The idea is that if you forgot your charger cable, you could still charge your phone without buying a high priced proprietary charger.
No, the idea is to get rid of the proprietary charger. The wall wart. Apple have always charged off USB, and Apple USB chargers can be used to charge any device with a USB cable.
Who cares if it's not really microUSB (besides the USB forum)? It works with anything designed for microUSB, and adds a couple of useful features. Sounds like win/win to me.
No you can't. The connector doesn't "Stream" anything... it's an analog "line in" that's no better than if you used the headphone jack. The cable also transmits controls back and forth so the buttons on your radio can control the iPhone... what a fantastic idea... unfortunately you could do this in 1980 with corded remotes for VCRs. Well, it's 30 years later and the Android/Windows Mobile/Blackbery and just about every other device made todays communities would like to introduce you to Bluetooth. It's already 18 years old, but it makes your Apple adapter cable look rather silly.
Switching to just a micro-USB would have been stupid as you can't get analog audio or HD video through USB 2.0. Still I feel for all the people who've invested in accessories that use the standar Apple 30-pin. Expensive accessories like docks, iHome clocks, etc.
Actually, the new dock connector is said to eliminate analog audio anyway, so that's BS. Second, for USB speed, nothing says it can't be USB 3.0. Third, that's all a moot point to video, MHL devices do HDMI out out of a physical port that is micro usb compatible. In most cases, using the same pins as USB, but in the case of Galaxy S 3, through 6 additional pins that are accomodated without breaking micro usb mechanical compatibility.
Apple's use of a proprietary connector is exactly because of one reason: because they can get away with it. It's part of their business plan, plain and simple. When they sell an iDevice, they don't take a loss, but they also endeavor to maximize ongoing revenue potential. One mechanism is by using a proprietary connector and forcing third party accessories to pay a license fee for the privilege of supporting iDevices. Bonus: vendors largely end up ignoring Android compatibility since they have to pick *either* Apple or other devices if they can only afford one device.
It's a very anti-consumer move, plain and simple.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
The great part about standards, there are thousands to choose from.
Samsung can get HDMI video out that usb port, yet LG doesnt, they put that craptastic second connector on there. Then Motorola does something completely different. Show me ANYONE that follows a standard.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
If they wanted to advance the state of the art they could have proposed their connector as a standard to the EU. Instead this shows Apple wants to bilk customers for buying their expensive adapters and accessories.
I can over DLNA.
NO wires needed. Get with the program grandpa. Wires are so OVER.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Switching to just a micro-USB would have been stupid as you can't get analog audio or HD video through USB 2.0.
Indeed this is a shortfall of USB. I propose we create a new technology one which is pin for pin compatible with USB devices and yet allows vendors to plug digital devices into the phones and tablets which then have the ability to convert to analogue. I imagine a device like this may cost all of $0.45 in bulk and can probably be purchased in a TSSOP package so the devices would not need to be any bigger since we fit these components in the same space as the old dock connector.
I envision a kind of Universial Serial Bus which allows pretty much any functionality on the other end of the cable. We could attach better GPS receiver, better wireless devices, media converters, camera, card readers, laptops, mice, keyboard, video cards, TV tuners.
I've even thought of a fancy name for this. We can call it USB-Host mode.
To be fair we're not really sure what speeds it provides; all we know is the only cable they're shipping now is a lightning to USB 2.0 cable. It looks like there's enough pins for USB 3.0 if the equivalent of the shield is conductive (it's not clear to me that GND and GND_DRAIN really have to be connected to separate pins anyhow), and it's entirely possible they plan to use active cables to get higher speed outputs in the future anyhow (who knows what the native signaling format is).
Yes they are. The pins are programmable on both ends. You can write low level interfaces which are smart on both sides. The old adapter couldn't do that.
The fact is, though that Apple AGREED to include a micro-usb connector on the iPhone, at least for charging and now they have reneged on that agreement.
If they ACTUALLY needed more, they could have placed the additional connection next to the micro USB and kept their word.
No, you're missing a small but important detail. In regions where the agreement applies, Apple ships the phone with the required adaptor.
No, but microUSB being a terrible and dead-end obsolete connector is a better excuse. Locking yourself down to USB 2.0 speeds for years to come would be idiotic.
Are you REALLY stupid enough to BELIEVE that seriously?
So most people is the street don't currently have even an iPhone 4S, but when they're given the chance to play with it they realise t's better in some ways that the phone they do have.
The very last guy on the tape says he does currently have an iPhone 4S. But hey, you video people all day long and you're bound to find saying something that isn't true. Either because they are trying to impress, or because they just don't actually know the right answer.
You want me to show you a YouTube video showing that Americans don't know where Australia is?