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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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.