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Nokia Design Guru Urges Apple To End Cable Chaos
An anonymous reader writes "Nokia's former head designer has called on Apple to work with the broader technology industry and end its policy of having proprietary connectors for its device chargers and accessories. Other experts say Apple cannot continue to go it alone with Lightning Connectors and ignore Micro USB."
Because nobody will every try to make another new kind of USB connector.
Oh, and before you accuse me of being an Apple fanboy. I'm still on a non-Lightning iPhone and if it wasn't my employer who paid for my phone, I wouldn't even have a smartphone.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Seriously, what's the problem? The important thing are charges that you can plug into the wall and that should be safe and powerful, with a USB outlet. And then you have cables that you plug into devices - what's the problem with having different cables? And why should a company producing _better_ cables switch to an inferior one?
How important are cables going to be when everything your phone does is wireless (including charging) ?
I believe they will have to cave in, eventually, as European regulators are pushing for micro USB-B as a standard for charging mobile devices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_External_Power_Supply
Reason for Lightning: see this hideous microUSB 3.0 cable what sort of shitty design is this? I know it's backwards compatible, but the USB standard was not future-proof as one can see from the picture, so it deserves to die.
For things that don't need to be secure, sure, Wireless is OK. But you can't argue that Wired is more secure, forget about it. Wired, local networks are something a lot of Companies and Governments should learn to use. My home is completely wired, and I don't ever see that changing (I don't own a Smart Phone etc.). That's MY preference, but I understand completely that most people, seemingly yourself; don't really care about privacy or security.
How important are cables going to be when everything your phone does is wireless (including charging) ?
I'm working on a design that lets me suck power out of people's phones on the train and transfer it into mine. I'll never need to charge again!!
No sig today...
I was sure this was going to be about cable TV.
Other experts say Apple cannot continue to go it alone with Lightning Connectors and ignore Micro USB.
Why not? After all micro usb has its share of shortcomings among which are the following:
1: No video capability
2: No docking capability
All users would be able to have are data transfer, and charging.
Pretty limited, right? Whatever happened to "Let the market decide?"
For things that don't need to be secure, sure, Wireless is OK.
Wait... we're talking about *charging*. Transmitting power to the phone, not interacting with data.
My home is completely wired, and I don't ever see that changing (I don't own a Smart Phone etc.).
Ah, that atleast is clear. What exactly is the point of a mobile phone that cannot communicate via wireless?
That's MY preference, but I understand completely that most people, seemingly yourself; don't really care about privacy or security.
What the fuck? That's a bit of a leap to get to that judgement! And you understand that even a wired connection is vulnerable? Perhaps the whole NSA revelations passed you by... Maybe you should disconnect completely, if you don't you 'obviously' don't care about privacy or security.
Now we have people complaining of cable orientation and defending and defending closed proprietary products...
Please put the name in the summary, so we know, that we are reading about actual design people, not bass guitar players or sons of the former presidents..
One that Apple did right was the headphone jack with the mic. If you want to see a bad selection of incompatible devices, try the multitude of cell phone wired headsets. Nokia was just as bad as the rest. My old Nokia phone had a connector that did not match anything by anybody else. Apple wired headsets, earbuds with mic, etc work fine on Motorola and other phones and some tablets. I first saw that configuration on Apple phones. It would be nice to unify on chargers. Motorola has a standard connector, but it does check for an authorised charger.. bummer. Plugging in a charger and the phone display unauthorized charger is the pits when you are low and borrow one away from home.
It will charge from a PC - if nobody is logged in on Windows7, and it will charge from Linux. Wierd. Not sure why I have to log out of Windows to charge the phone.
Reason for Lightning: see this hideous microUSB 3.0 cable what sort of shitty design is this? I know it's backwards compatible, but the USB standard was not future-proof as one can see from the picture, so it deserves to die.
Reason #1 not to use Lightning: None of my non-Apple gadgets will support it (Apple doesn't allow it). That means my Go-Pro camera will be micro-USB, my wireless headphones will be micro-USB, any other phone than Apple in the household will be micro-USB, etc. etc. All of them will interchangeably use same charger and PC-connect cable. It doesn't help if a few Apple gadgets have a prettier plug, it still will not be compatible with anything else.
Reason #2: Built in authorization chip in the cable (!), adding cost, preventing competition.
Nokia had there own connectors for years, the B+N nook has it's own connector, it just one of those things. I think it's more important to have a single USB charger.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
...has finally bought an iPhone
Am I the only person who watches what they are doing while plugging things in?
are you all plugging your phones in with your eyes closed?
This industry is still too immature for connectivity to be regulated. I believe it would be a tragic waste of potential if we stop at Micro-USB or Lightning or any other current standard. The comparison power sockets is spurious - there hasn't been any innovation in that technology for a very long time.
Very good example AC! We now start to see the audio/mic jack on laptops too. I can buy any headset and pretty much use it on any device. For my older laptop, I got a 2€ convertor so I can use a "modern" headset on it.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
I can hear the ghost of Steve Jobs laughing from his grave.
Eww. That is ugly. I think I'd stick to the original until they learn a little style. Doesn't need built in backward compatibility (except with adaptors), just needs to work, be standard across most of my devices, and be available cheaply from scary 3rd world manufacturers.
Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
Eh? My RAZR HD is happy to charge off its own, a belkin, a generic cable plugged into the PC. What model are you talking about?
Only Apple fanbois want a connector that can double as a butt-plug
Only Apple fanbois want a connector that can double as a butt-plug
A charging cable combined with a butt-plug! That's shocking!
It's not a chaos. It's a REVENUE STREAM. Manufacturers, vendors and Apple as patent licensor all profit of a high diversity of cables and connectors, and their changes with each product cycle. Oh we forget the customer losers in this game...
All of the other docking features are less essential to the basic operation of a phone. And most syncing can be deferred.
But if the thing runs out of power, the phone becomes a brick, usefulness zero.
Being able to always borrow a charger to maintain that basic level of functionality is a prerequisite to everything else.
If Apple's issue really was that micro USB was too fragile, well they could have introduced a new, standard, connector to fix that. Design a "mobile USB" standard, that is durable, orients either way, integrates pins for HDMI, etc. Get it all nice n' designed and tested, then hand the design over to the USB Group, royalty free (like all USB standards). Particularly if it was going to be part of new Apple phones I don't imagine that there'd be a lot of resistance to adoption.
The EU's mandate doesn't come from a love of micro-USB, but rather the need for a standard, whatever that is. Micro-USB is the best we've got and the most prevalent, so that is what they are going for. If there was a better one out there, particularly if you could show how increased durability could lead to longer life and less waste, I think it'd have a good chance of being the standard.
However Apple has no interest in that at all. Their new connector wasn't made because micro-USB is so bad, it was made because Apple desires to be the only place you buy Apple accessories.
If Nokia wants to fix this, they should get together an industry group to design and agree to use such a connector
XKCD tells you about what happens when you promote a new standard to supersede previous ones.
Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
...and be replaced by another, superior high-speed USB interface and connector.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
"Other experts say Apple cannot continue to go it alone"
Cannot. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
hideous
Moron
Apple can do whatever they want to do. I rather see Apple's stupid proprietary connectors than have a regulator shoving MicroUSB down their throats. Involve the regulators and innovation grinds to a a stand-still. Heck, just look at what patents and copyrights are doing to innovation and see. We can criticize Apple but saying that they "cannot" do it is pushing it.
You're fine with communicating over the plain old internet, but won't use an encrypted wireless connection?
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Naturally, to appease the current problems with connectors and cables that differ across apple's product range a new cabling standard is needed to across the board.
I humbly suggest Apple will create the iCable. This magical cable will come in in two varieties, the iCableS and the iCableC. (The C version will of course be in different colours.)
The benefits of the iCable are many; it will support the latest Apple standards, enabling best-in-class functionality and transfer speeds. furthermore, it will create a new market for existing licensed manufacturers to create new adapters and will serve to push users into more upgrades and accessories as none of their previous cables will be usable. Not forgetting that the new cable will be totally useless with their existing devices.
The iCable will allow us to bring back those great office conversations of "Do you have a phone charger? -Oh no I need an iPhone charger."
Let's be fair, is there really a doube of why Apple is slowly losing out of market share in the smartphone wars?
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
Let's mandate an inferior standard and kill a superior standard so everyone can be the same on paper.
If you bothered to ask iPhone owners, you would find three things:
1. They enjoyed the same 30-pin connector for nearly a decade (a decade!) while other handset makers changed their connector and chargers for every new handset. They will likely enjoy the clearly superior Lightning connector for another decade.
2. They have no beef with their connector, or the cable - it works really well.
3. They don't care what Android is using or dream of having a compatible connector because they don't have an Android handset.
It's uniformity for the sake of a pencil pusher's concept of uniformity - not for consumers.
Apple shareholders need their profits! 100% markup on their consumer electronics just isn't enough!
If you gave me a choice between a printer and a giraffe with explosive diarrhoea, i'll get my ladder and my raincoat
I always thought iOS devices were powered by the immortal soul of Steve Jobs and cutting-edge round corners. They are worse off than I thought.
Also, %s/nokia/microsoft/g
i think Nokia cannot compete....unless it shifts to andriod...
yeah, apple should start using micro usb.
we invited friends coming over for kid's birthday party. one of them asked if I have a charger for his phone and I pointed him to the charging area where I have 2 chargers sitting empty. he looked at me as if I was an idiot ... he was looking for an iPhone charger.
I recently bought a micro-USB OTG cable for my Nexus 7. As the Nokia OTG cable for the Lumias had the best design/finish (CA-157), I decided to get one. When I tried plugging it to my Nexus 7, I noticed that it was not a standard micro-USB connector: it didn't have the two inferior diagonal corners, meaning that you can connect a micro-USB cable on the Lumia connector, but not connect cables with the non-standard Lumia micro-USB connectors on other micro-USB ports. So, dear Nokia design guru, please STFU.
http://www.earlybirdsavings.com/picture/MDC009/view-MDC009-Micro-USB-A-Type-to-USB-Female-HOST-OTG-Data-Cable-CA157-for-Nokia-N8-E7-C7-PDA-1.jpg
Apple has an interesting ability to nickel-and-dime it's customers by keeping certain things proprietary. But it's not 1996 any more, Apple.
Apple sells an adapter for USB. Costs the same as their cable.
... I have a bunch of Samsung products. But I hate they changed to use a proprietary connector very close to the Apple one. Then, they'll argue they're not an Apple wannabe.
As soon as someone tries to impose a "standard" like this, it's a sure sign that it's obsolete. It must be time for pico-USB at least. The very idea that a hardware manufacturer should be limited by such things is laughable, any company that consiously limits itself in such a way is ripe for the picking by its competitors.
"The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.".-- A. S. Tanenbaum
What are they going to do, ban the import of new iPhones? That'll go over real well...
Say there are 1 million users who just bought latest iPhone and want to have spare chargers. That is extra income of $ 10 Million! In case they used micro-USB, this would have been $ 0.
I think laptops will be next. Not only MagSafe -> MagSafe 2, but all laptops have too many different connectors.
Actually that design is superior to the current USB design. At least its easy to see/feel connector orientation.
Given that more and more Android devices have wireless charging and data is usually synced wirelessly as well, these discussions seem like discussions about the best buggy whip in the era of automobiles.
Reason for Lightning: see this hideous microUSB 3.0 cable what sort of shitty design is this? I know it's backwards compatible, but the USB standard was not future-proof as one can see from the picture, so it deserves to die.
As you can see from the cable, the backwards compatibility will only work in one direction. Clearly, because of the larger connector, USB 3.0 cables (regular, mini or micro) are not compatible with non-USB 3.0 devices. Newer devices will still work with the older micro-USB cables that don't have the wider connector, but that's as far as "backwards compatibility" goes. The new USB 3.0 connectors are essentially completely different connectors, and ridiculously larger.
Seems to me the EU is being very premature in standardizing on a version of micro-USB that is already obsolete. Surely industry can work together and create a new standard that has all the awesomeness of the Lightning connector and the openness of USB, combined with some well thought out features to make the standard future-resistant for at least a couple of decades.
When the initial rumors of Apple's new connector started appearing I was at one point convinced that Apple was going to do something truly awesome and introduce a contact-only magnetic connector like the MagSafe connector they've been using on laptops for several years. Not only would such a connector completely negate the possibility of damaging your device internally by twisting or yanking on the cable, but it would also make it easy to keep both sides of the connector clean and functioning in dirty environments. It would also be possible to make the device-side connector waterproof so that devices could be charged while they are otherwise sealed and protected in waterproof cases.
Sadly I was mistaken and they introduced yet another insertable connector that just provides an ingress point for moisture and debris and a way to possibly easily damage a device costing hundreds of dollars. And with the incredible hue and cry there has been when they left the 30-pin connector behind you know they'll have to do everything in their power to stick with Lightning as a standard for at least a decade, as they did with the 30-pin. They have no choice but to fight tooth and nail against being forced to switch to some other connector so soon after introducing Lightning.
Bottom line is I love my iPhone's Lightning connection, like most actual users seem to, but neither the Lightning connector nor any current USB connector qualifies to be a standardized, future-resistant, worldwide personal-device connector in my mind. There has to be a better standard that we can come up with.
THIS IS APPLE!!!!!
We are now talking about charging... not video quality...
end chaos by adding more chaos.
good plan I like it.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
micro usb is a *standard* , lightning connector is a *proprietary* non standard connector. Alone that issue make it inappropriate to dictate a standard charger (and try to avoid waste electronic). As for being so "great" I beg to differ. Yes it is good. But micro usb isn't crap. The difference in usability does not warrant the gushing.
"It's uniformity for the sake of a pencil pusher's concept of uniformity - not for consumers." whoever fanboi modded you insightful ? The reason a standard connector for charger was asked is to avoid waste electronic. Alone on my floor we have 5 or 6 type of charger and *NONE* are compatible. And if you want a new charger (home/work/travel) then you gotta buy the *one* that the manufacturer propose (you know that there are other phone then iphone / android, right ? or are you so up in fanboism that nothing exists anymore?). At least with a standard you can 1) make concurrence play so phone manufacturer have to conform to a standard, so anybody can make a charger. Gone the proprietary charger for a lot of money 2) lower the waste electronic, because you do not need to rebuy a charger for each new generation or type of device.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
The drive to differentiate the brand drives them to swerve away from standards to keep the value (perceived or real) higher than commodity devices. .Like Alton Brown says - death to single-taskers.
Eu wants standardization to keep the e-recycling down...
At least we'll be able to figure out the orientation on the first try.
Meh. MicroUSB and Lightning are both on borrowed time. I see no reason a charging pad that's also a wireless USB/wireless HDMI host won't replace both in the next year or two. Then we can whine that Apple's not on the Qi standard, and we have to buy two styles of charge/link pads at TJ Maxx or 5 Below for $5 each.
i've always sort of wanted an iPhone, but bought android because I didn't want to buy into the whole Apple monopoly. I held off getting an iPhone for his long as possible but when the 5S came out, I jumped on it. I have had an iPad third-generation since it was released and was very used to the 30 pin connector. now that I have the 5s I am very happy with the lightning connector even though I need two cables instead of just one for my two devices. Nokia just has butthurt that they are not as successful as Apple and they are going to try to find problems with their products. The lightning connector is a superior product to micro USB. Micro USB feels cheap compared to Apple's new proprietary connector.
What is the alternative, people stop buying I-Phones? As long as they have a stranglehold on the hardware, they can do whatever they want. Judging by the sales of the last couple of phones, people don't really seem to care about the fancy connector not fitting anything else
Usually those extra accessories will try to take advantage of a unique feature in the phone, so even if the cable fits it doesn't mean the software will work with it.
USB is a standard. The USB on my kyocera will work on your HTC. That's what STANDARD means. "Sticking it to the Americans" is just stupid. Remember, Google's Nexus uses the same STANDARD mini-USB as everyone else's phones... except Apple, who seem to be taking a page from Microsoft's playbook.
Introducing the iLamp (requires iBulbs). See the problem?
Free Martian Whores!
Most of these phones become obsolete before the need a new cable. Usually those extra accessories will try to take advantage of a unique feature in the phone, so even if the cable fits it doesn't mean the software will work with it.
Bullshit, every single usb charger I've ever owned has worked with every single non-Apple usb device without any issues. The whole point of this standard is so that every phone does work, hassle free, with every charger (in fact the only devices I've seen complain about usb charging are Apple devices, go figure).
Also just because almost all phones come with a charger doesn't mean you won't need to either replace it or buy a 2nd charger, and if you had a previous phone you already have a perfectly good 2nd charger with no need to buy another one because your new phone is incompatible.
You know what? I count being able to borrow anyone at work's usb charging cable and have it work on my usb phone as a good thing.
The EU Law on this is just one of their Lets just find a way to stick it to the Americans law, because they had a fit that Apple took over Nokia lead.
Or maybe the EU cares about doing what's good for consumers and not just what's good for the company that pays them the most money.
If Apple "needs" a proprietary connector then they can put both a micro-usb connector and their expensive proprietary DRMd cable.
uses the same STANDARD mini-USB as everyone else's phones
mini-usb is an entirely different connector. most phones except apple have standardized on micro-usb.
Apple has a tough PR job. It seems everyday folks are trying to call out Apple for something or another. It was just a couple months ago that every news site was talking about apple phones exploding while charging. Samsung with their new smartwatch released a new charger and didn't use the micro-usb. I would put big money that if Apple releases a smartwatch their connector will work on that device.
I have to agree, in fact I won't buy a device that uses non standard connectors anymore, I found out what a PITA that is when I was on a trip with my ex and her phone couldn't take my adapter so i ended up spending the better part of a Sunday trying to find the funky adapter her phone used. Now I don't even think about it, I keep a standard mini-USB hanging off the PC at the shop and the one at the apt and it fits mine, fits my fiance's, fits the boys phones, it all "just works".
As for Apple? sigh....its fucking apple, I think if their shit actually worked with anything else their fans wouldn't be happy, Apple crap has ALWAYS only worked with Apple crap and that is just the way it is. Apple is gonna be killed by the "good enough" in the tablet and phone markets anyway, they'll have a high end niche like they have in towers but that will be it, as the competition starts cranking out really nice multicore Android tablets for less than $100 and phones for less than $150 the writing is on the wall so let them keep their funky connectors, just makes 'em more 'exclusive" as far as iFanboys are concerned.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I use wireless charging and wireless file transfering over wifi/4g lte. Cables are for the birds.
Nokia, inventor of the Pop-Port, is complaining about Apple's non-standard cables?
Blatant link bait, which /. fell for.
I cannot comprehend why everybody feels so strongly about micro usb. why should all developers be pushed to the same standard, if they don't want to do so? obv apple feels there are technical and competitve reasons to like lightning connectors, isn't that their perogative? Is this the most pressing issue for EU to deal with right now?
before people jump down my throat, apple sells a tiny adapter that you put on a micro usb cable. i don't see what the big deal is! also their lighting cable connects to a USB on the other end!
as an iphone user, it's not like i need to interface with a billion random cables. have charger, will travel.
Introducing the iLamp (requires iBulbs). See the problem?
no, i don't see the problem. so fucking what, i want to buy an ilamp that requires special bulbs. isn't that my choice? please help me understand!
Different phones have different power requirements, so the brick is not always interchangeable. However, if you take one cord and plug it between the phone and brick, then take a different cord and do the same, both cords will work the exact same way. The cord will also work with going from brick to USB on a computer to another brick without any issue, provided there's enough power coming down the line. Rule of thumb, if your phone requires 1A of power, and your old phone has a 0.7A charger, you're most likely going to burn up the phone. If you have a brick that puts out 2A of power, however, you can charge just about any phone and even some of the lower-end tablets.
-Ravenlrd20k
who is even close to that price point yet? anyways, you can (if you own an apple device) spend 5 bucks on a converter so you can fit a microUSB, if that is what matters.
Reason for Lightning: see this hideous microUSB 3.0 cable what sort of shitty design is this? I know it's backwards compatible, but the USB standard was not future-proof as one can see from the picture, so it deserves to die.
How many phones or even tablets need more than 400Mbit of bandwidth? Sure it sounds like it's not future-proof if you need to ask that question, but for fucks sake why don't we worry about the actual future and not some techno-utopia where we need phones with connectors fast enough to download a few libraries of congress before we are done with our morning coffee. The Lightning connector is beautifully designed but total overkill for almost every task it will ever be used for.
And while we are on this topic, the "superior" lightning connector's USB profile is... 2.0! So even if you have a "futureproof" lightning-equipped iphone with a fancy fucking $40 cable, you still can't plug it into a computer and get more than a "micro usb's" worth of connectivity out of it. Some future we live in, it's all just marketing bullshit when the rubber meets the road.
You had to rummage around to cherrypick that ugly picture. There are plenty of other microusb 3.0 pics which look nice. This, for example, taken from wikipedia's article on USB3.0. Does it look ugly to you?
It baffles me the extents people go to rain shit on nice stuff. That is, unless you're yet another apple shill pushing apple propaganda to slashdot.
in america we believe in something called private enterprise. where people can make products and sell them.
Rubbish, the US has plenty of standards. Would you like to see every home and apartment have its own proprietary mains power sockets? Every car manufacturer have its own type of filling nozzle? Every wi-fi router require a proprietary wi-fi adapter? Every TV and DVD player have its own proprietary video connector? No, I didn't think so. Why should phones be any different?
Remember that this was the free market's answer to phone charging, the EU decided that it was in citizens interests that a standard be set up so we don't have to deal with endless proprietary cables any more.
Yes it does. It's the connector, not the body. They almost doubled the width and made it non-symmetrical. Microusb 3 is one of the worst connectors to come out in a while.
When I plug my iPhone in for charging, all I have to do is find the hole. With my USB mini-charged devices, I have to check the plug first, and then remember what that particular device considers up. I'd love to have Apple license the lightning connector, but there's no way I want them to switch to the brain-damaged (and certain to change) mini-USB standard. Or take any advice from Nokia.
This is where reality differs from theory. In theory, all micro-USB devices would be able to swap chargers but I know of one person (anecdote, but true nonetheless) who upgraded his phone, used the charger from his old phone, and fried his new phone due to differences in voltage and power.
You think you are making the argument against following the standard, but actually you are making the argument *for* the standard. Either the first phone's manufacturer failed to follow the standard's specification for voltage output in his power adapter, or the second phone's manufacturer failed to comply with the standard's specification of required range of input voltage.
Also, if compatibility is mandated then how will new features be developed without potentially damaging legacy devices?
Well, if you *don't* follow the standard, then you ought to use a proprietary connector.
There's two issues to consider: the justification for the existence of a proprietary connector, and the justification for *using* that connector on a particular device. Apple's lightning connector provides *two* twisted pairs, power, is very compact. The question is whether phone and tablet users require the particular set of capabilities it provides. You can of course concoct scenarios where you might want to use those capabilities, but that's not the same as creating the best possible experience for users.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
See the problem?
Technically, there is no real problem. People should just not buy Apple products if they don't like them. This issue is probably a marketing failure on the part of other manufacturers. There should be a series of TV commercials exposing the downsides of Apple's vendor lock-in practices.
Yip Apple simply uses USB adapters for their phone.
What I find ironic here, is that this is EXACTLY what the patent system is for. Apple invents a new connector, patents it, and keeps it to itself, using it in all it's new devices. Nokia, not being able to use the new connector due to this, complains that Apple should be forced to use the same thing that everyone else sort of is using - and be forced to pay royalties to the USB consortium in the process.
Love it.
The problem with standards like this is simple: everyone is bound to it forever.
Just imagine if we had been stuck with USB 1 connectors on all our phones...or the Nokia charger connection...or whatever. Would Apple have been able to use the 9-pin dock connector or the lightning cable on the iPhone?
Why not Mini HDMI instead of USB? Why not eSata? Why are you going to lock all phones and phone-like devices into a specific connector forever?
That's not how Amps and Volts work.
You could plug a 10amp charger in and it wouldn't do anything bad.
However if it was 6V instead of 5V you would (well, may) fry it.
You can't push Amps, the device will only ever pull what it needs.
However you can indeed push Volts and fry the thing.
But the voltage is part of the USB standard. 5V. +- approx 0.25V.
So any USB charger works with any USB device.
This does, however, not mean that you can't get *bad* USB chargers.
But that would have fried the old phone as well.
This really is just vendor lock in of the worst kind. :)
Thankfully, however, vendor lock IN is also vendor lock OUT.
Apple, you can keep your proprietary connectors.
No, but I bet the tech companies do... ;)
Urgh, that image makes me want to throw up.... 8X
I absolutely agree. However in the context of this post, Nokia design guru Frank Nuovo is urging Apple (and presumably all device makers) to stop making proprietary connectors!
My point about the reality of the standard versus the theory of the standard is that standards are theoretical unless there is governing body to ensure that all manufacturers are in compliance, and even then there will be unavoidable incompatibilities.
From what I can see, Nuovo recommends device manufacturers to stop developing proprietary connectors in favor of a standard that can only ever be a standard in name and which, by definition, can never provide new features.
blog
While Apple is known for changing connectors, they are always an improvement.
And the new connector is pretty awesome.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
A Nokia design guru? What on crappy designs that are behind the times? Yes, let's go with what he says.
Let's standardize all of the electrical outlets first. Which one should we choose?? http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm
They offer HDMI over the same microUSB connector via slimport or MHL. That requires multiplexing.
I think you are overestimating how difficult and expensive it would have been for the USB people to make a standard that was not orientation-sensitive. It seems far more likely to me that the same people who never noticed how annoying orientation was with the circa-1996 USB A connector didn't bother to take the time to attack the problem with the 3rd revision of the connector.
http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2388
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
Countries do have national standards, that's my point.
Perhaps we should all standardize on Windows, then. Wouldn't that make things a lot simpler?
Non-standard mutant charging connectors, proprietary video adapters and abuse of 3rd parties attempting to make cool things for their products are the primary reasons I abandoned iOS for Android.
I shouldn't have to buy an "Apple approved" charger/data cable when chargers for any other phone for like $10 at a local convenient store.
Being able to do whatever the hell I want with my device for the most part is another benefit of Android. Not having to jailbreak for every OS update is a plus.
I love MacOS X but the iOS ecosystem sucks.
What the sib said. Good thing you're anon, cause you're very wrong and sound confident about it.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
I hope Apple goes its own way. I have Micro-USB devices and, while it is nice to have a standard, it's a poor standard. The plug is tiny, so it is difficult to line up and, to make matters worse, it's also polarized, so I have to look very closely to find out which way is right on both the cable and the device.
If the charge is going through a USB port then it must conform to the USB standard, otherwise it is not a USB port, and the manufacturer is an idiot for making it look like one.
The USB standard specifies the acceptable voltage range. All USB power adapters must conform to that. Same goes for every USB port on your computer.
This is the whole point of using the USB standard, it removes so much hassle for the end user with multiple devices. It's easy; if it's a USB cable, and the device has a USB port, then it will work with any USB charger. You may get USB ports that are under-powered for certain uses, especially if you are using a USB hub, but you shouldn't ever get one over-powered.
Lets imagine a world where the DDR, DVI, IDE, SATA, USB etc. standards exist but all computer companies use their own proprietary interfaces almost exclusively. Dell computers only work with Dell ram, Dell, monitors, Dell harddrives and Dell keyboard/mice, Samsung laptops require Samsung hard-drives, Samsung thumb-drives, Samsung monitors etc.
After all, that's perfect private enterprise right? Consumers are free to choose whoever's ecosystem they like!
Is that better? Is it wrong that, seeing the wasteful and expensive consumer lock-in this creates, a government like the EU wouldn't step in to standardise?
If an industry fails to act in consumers' best interest then it is the duty of the government to step in and protect the consumers, not to protect large companies from consumers' best interests.
The government should not "protect large companies from consumers' best interests", but it should allow the market to determine standards. If you don't like a product because it doesn't work with what your other products, don't buy it. Pretty simple, really. If people don't buy a manufacturers products the manufacturer will either adapt or go out of business. If enough people buy his products to keep him in business, it's no concern of yours or anyone else what either he or his customers do.
The "Micro-USB standard" was one of the most stupid ideas ever imagined.
1st of all, regular USB ports (not cables) are the ubiquitous default world standard - they're everywhere, and everybody has one. That would have been a much better 'standard' to create a "standard" upon - then every mfg. could have whatever cable they want, and the other end would plug into a standard USB port. And despite the "Micro-USB standard", the regular USB connector is what has become the de-facto standard anyway.
2nd point is that USB will not be the connectivity standard forever, so this will all be argued all over again when a whole new generation of you wet behind the ears whipper snappers come along and whine about competition in the marketplace.
Mini-USB is the smallest connector that anyone should reasonably consider.
You apparently think the USB standards group needs an army to enforce compliance or the standard is meaningless.
BTW the standard is up to 3.0 but you can still plug a 1.0 device into a 3.0 socket. Your definition is broken.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
The government should not "protect large companies from consumers' best interests", but it should allow the market to determine standards
The market created the micro-usb standard, however companies still needed an extra push to stop using proprietary connectors.
If you don't like a product because it doesn't work with what your other products, don't buy it.
Yes that's so easy to say, but if Apple, Samsung, Sony, HTC, Motorola and Nokia all used different proprietary connectors then what would you buy instead? That cheap Chinese knockoff that uses micro-usb? No, people would still buy the big brands, still carry the proprietary cable/charger with them everywhere and still begrudgingly throw out their drawer of incompatible chargers whenever they changed to a different phone brand.
In this instance the free market failed consumers, and I'm glad the EU has the balls to say that actually no, it's not ok to make consumers throw away perfectly good chargers if they change phone brands.
Hate to break it to you, but Apple's been using proprietary connectors from way back. They don't need any coaching from Microsoft.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
the euro govt sucks and oversteps their bounds, which is why euro companies don't innovate and eu is a second-world region. nokia is now owned by microsoft. good job with phone innovation
there's a difference between creating a standard and mandating the use of the standard. note that nobody is forced to use usb connectors for their keyboards, they're free to use whatever they want. overregulation kills industry and kills countires.
see the above comemnt. companies can choose to use standards and it's usually in their best interest. dell can use all the dell-proprietary memory they want. nobody is mandating that dell use regular memory. get it? i'm not arguing against the standard, just mandating the standard.
While standardization has some benefits, diversity also has benefits. Diversity allows for innovation and experimenting with different ways of solving the problem.
Even if Apple started using micro-USB now, that does not mean that we would have a single universal connector, because other new connectors would emerge with improvements.
In short, there is a balance that naturally emerges from this trade-off. More standardization is not always better and the optimal number is not one.
These comments are mine; I do not speak for my employer.
I have no problem with proprietary. There are advantages as well as disadvantages. If you prefer not to use proprietary, then buy only products which don't use proprietary. If there are enough people who want to do that, there will be vendors aplenty to sell you products. If not, then you're in a minority too small to be worth anyone's business. Did you prefer BluRay or HD-DVD? Don't depend on other people to solve your problems for you, and in particular don't count on Government to force everyone to do what you think they should. If enough people like a solution, there will be no reason for government to impose it, and if they don't then it is unconscionable for government to impose it. Pretty simple, really.
It's nice not having to look at the connector when plugging in a device and still feel the flush snap as the connector locks into place. It's a big plus for user experience. USB variations often prompted the need to align orientation before insertion. It's a small thing, but I really like not having to worry about orientation after many years of doing so for other connectors. Connecting the device by feel is not really a problem giving extended feature of being more accessible.
Did you read anything I wrote? I'll say again, if Apple, Samsung, Sony, HTC, Motorola and Nokia all used different proprietary connectors then what would you buy instead?
The fact is that if every large company in a particular industry is acting in a way that is bad for consumers then the only people that can help you are the government. Just look at the state of mobile carriers; In Europe, with its regulated and standardised mobile operators, call plans are a lot cheaper and it's much easier to switch networks compared to the less regulated US.
You know what? I count being able to borrow anyone at work's usb charging cable and have it work on my usb phone as a good thing.
I don't. See, my phone's battery lasts a minimum of two days, so I never have to charge my phone at work. Hasn't happened once in the 5 years that I've had iPhones. My Android phones (I've carried both for the past 3 years now) usually die in the afternoon and need to be charged. The fact that I can charge my phone with a co-worker's cable is a bad thing simply because I actually need to charge my phone with any cable at all.
You didn't read what I wrote. If Apple, Samsun, Sony, HTC, Motorola and Nokia all used proprietary connectors, I would buy whichever of them I preferred and not worry about it. Opinions differ. Government is always the very worst answer to any problem. Always. Most of the problems that we have are the result of government trying to solve problems. Which always creates new problems. And rather than go back and tweak their original "solution" they pass new laws and regulations to ameliorate the damage that their original actions caused. Fortunately, not everything else works that way.
While I agree that the point of USB was to remove hassle, I think they failed monumentally at it. I have a ton of USB cables around here and you know why? Because they offered a variety of USB port sizes, for what purpose I'm not sure. Type A, Type B, mini-A, mini-B, micro-A, micro-B and now the USB-3.0 plugs. Compound that with female and male (yes, I have some NAS drives that have male ports for some unknown reason. So now, just to support USB, I have to keep 3-6 cables lying around. So is USB really the ideal solution to all of device connectivity woes?
overregulation kills industry and kills countires.
Oh really, how about mobile operators? In Europe operators are more regulated and the technology they use more standardised by the government than in the US, yet call plans are cheaper and people can more easily switch providers.
The fact is that when companies can standardise between themselves there is no problem (as what happened with things like HDMI), but when every company is creating its own charging standard for no more reason than to sell overpriced chargers that is when government should step in and impose order.
What really kills countries (as can be seen in the US quite frankly) is the idea that the market always leads to what is good for consumers and thus shouldn't be touched. For much of the time the market works, but when it doesn't (and starts working against consumers) then you have to step in and adjust it. If you don't then all that happens is ordinary people pay more for an, on the whole, worse experience.
What you mean by "my" definition?
Whatever you might mean, I'm guessing it doesn't change the empirical fact that devices which can connect to USB (of whatever version) are in some cases incompatible which means the "standard" is a standard in name only.
My larger point is that Nuovo makes no practical or logical sense when he urges device makers to use "standard" micro-USB ports.
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So you're happy to throw your draw of expensive Samsung chargers away if you bought an HTC, or have to carry 2 sets of chargers for your Acer tablet and your Nokia phone?
Government is always the very worst answer to any problem. Always
And what about my point on mobile networks? Which is better for consumers, the more heavily regulated European mobile networks or the "freer" US networks?
Government is always the best answer, in fact the only answer, to when elements in the free market get to big to be controlled by that market and work against consumers. If government is always the worst answer then why do we need anti-monopoly laws? Surely it would be better to let companies get as big as they like and do what ever they like to succeed, because that's the "free market"?
I agree. A government mandated standard for a consumer products like this is probably not the best idea. However, I do think it would be beneficial if Apple were required to license the technology for a fair price. This could provide the benefit of a superior (optional) standard, while still providing an incentive to innovate (though admittedly less of an incentive).
I made the choice to buy those expensive Samsung chargers, and I would have to take that in to consideration if I chose to buy an HTC. It's my choice, and my problem.
You think that government isn't behind the US system? Everything that the communications companies do is constrained by government rules and regulations. The fact that those rules and regulations are ill-advised is the fault of the government, not the companies.
I don't know. Why do we need anti-monopoly laws? Do you think that those monopolies could have been created without the government making the rules that allowed it? Government is behind all of it; government directed not by villains but by well-intentioned individuals created all of this mess.
I should get to choose what I want rather than the nanny govt telling me what's best for me.
So instead of the government making sure that companies have to offer you a good deal, you'd rather choose between a bad deal or a worse deal from "free" companies because guv'mnt is always bad, mkay?
I don't know. Why do we need anti-monopoly laws? Do you think that those monopolies could have been created without the government making the rules that allowed it?
What rules specifically allow monopolies to form and engage in anticompetitive behaviour? If there were no rules (a kind of Ayn Rand libertarian dream) there would be nothing no stop a corporation from becoming as big as it liked and stifling competition as much they they like. Rules don't create this, rules are required to protect consumers and smaller businesses from this.
Government is behind all of it; government directed not by villains but by well-intentioned individuals created all of this mess.
Well-intentioned individuals? More like carrier politicians riding on "small government" manifestos making rules that favour the companies that donate the most money to them.
At least in Europe we have saner voting systems that allow for more than 2 parties and a more sensible view on the role of government to stand up for people, not to just stand up for large corporations in the guise of being "free market" friendly.
yes. why not let me choose? what do you care what choices I make? butt out!
i happen to like the lightning charger, and would be POd if it got retired because of a stupid european law from 6000 miles away. i didn't get to vote for european parliament, so why should they regulate me? eff them all.
Congratulations. I'm very happy for you.
I use an old on-call phone which only accepts its own mini usb cable. But it's very old so I'm not sure what the deal is but it's a pita.
Why are we still using connectors for these devices at all? We can do wireless charging and synch now, so why are we still fighting over connectors?
It's not regulating you personally, companies are still free to use whatever proprietary connectors they like in the US market. However, it's such a sensible choice that most phone makers have adopted micro-usb universally.
One that Apple did right was the headphone jack with the mic
What, by doing the same thing as was already standard but swapping two of the three signals?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#TRRS_Standards
it's in my head
It's a non issue brought up by competitors and users of other brands. The lightning cable beats the micro USB all day long. So stop thinking up what I as a consumer seems best. If I don't like it I vote with my wallet.
Nice try Steve Ballmer.
Apple giving up its proprietary adapter would be like Microsoft Word XML format actually being Open, and Useful.
The only people that care so much are the people NOT BUYING Apple products and sad they cannot use Accessories made for Apple x....
Dude you ain't been keeping up with things, have you? They were already showing off $100 Android dual cores at this year's Hong Kong expo and you can go to places like ChinaBuye and get dual core 3G phones for less than $100, here is an example. Oh and my bad on the tablets, they actually have the dual cores starting at less than $60
And THIS is the reason why apple is doomed to end up a niche like they are in the PC space, because when multicore tablets and phones reach "good enough" for the masses that is all she wrote.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
In the future, we'll be using a CPU socket called USB 17. It has nothing to do with USB 1...16, but baby, it's USB!
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
The end you plug into a computer or power supply is always USB-A however, that's part of the point. The end that plugs into a modern phone is nearly always micro-USB.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Please give a real life example of a device that's incompatible with USB but has a USB plug, because this really shouldn't be the case.
USB really is a standard, and really does work universally.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Because then everyone who buys those lamps and realizes *after* that they need a special bulb complains really loud that they need more places to buy bulbs from and the market gets flooded with normal and special bulbs when the stupid iLamp should've just come with a normal socket for normal bulbs.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
I understand that, I'm merely adding that the USB standard does not alleviate 'cable headaches'. I still have to maintain a stockpile of USB cables to support USB devices despite the existence of a standard. Now if Apple devices required a proprietary connector on the computer or charger side I could see people getting more up in arms about this, but they don't, it's still USB-A. Having to bring that cable with me isn't really inconvenient since I would just be bringing a micro-USB cable with me instead if I had an Android phone. It's still a cable. And I see how you could say that you're more likely to be able to find someone with a spare micro-USB cable for you to borrow while on the road, but why on earth would you rely on that and not bring one? Secondly, with nearly 1 in 2 smartphones sold in the US being an Apple iPhone, I'm probably going to be able to find a cable somewhere if it came down to that. (Yes, I realize that isn't representative of global market share).
fine, then either monoprice sells a lamp socket converter or everybody rates the iLamp one star on amazon. fanbois get screwed, apple gets punished in the marketplace, and everybody wins. don't you get that? we don't need government telling us what's best for us?
Apple has always been proprietary, and has always slapped away standards when they appeared. This is nothing new and they're not borrowing from Microsoft, they actually lead Microsoft here. This is mostly due to Jobs, since the NeXT used a "standard" nubus but then changed the form factor so that existing nubus cards could not be used.
Now just try to see/feel orientation for the port itself.
With my big old American hands it's damn near impossible to plug in a micro-usb jack with less than perfect lighting, or in a moving vehicle, or really anything other than ideal conditions.
I can't tell which side of the connector is up without my glasses, although I can read just fine without them.
My dad has to have someone else plug in his e-reader for him every couple of days. He's over 80 so it's completely impossible for him.
Designers who are raging egotists always consider their own capabilities as the standard, like Frank Lloyd Wright designing buildings with 5' 10" ceilings because he was short.
MicroUSB is another example of this, its ergonomics suck.
I've already given a real life example in my anecdote of my co-worker who fried his phone by using a charger from his old phone.
Since that doesn't seem to be enough for you, here's an article about USB 3.0 incompatibilities with audio equipment.
If you'd like another example, please find one yourself using Google.
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While I agree apple needs to supply either a USB standard port or an inline adapter, it's true that lightning DOES have its own advantages. (reversability & clips not wearing down being a big one). I'd much rather see Apple join in on the next USB standard than to see the iphone 5-plus downgraded (I'm not even an iPhone user!). Besides, we all know it's going to wireless induction charging, right?
The thing you call a 3.5mm jack is a 1/8th inch jack. Some joker just decided to rename it.
The 2.5mm jack is actually 2.5mm though, even though some call it a 3/32nd inch jack.
So there's no compatibility problem here, just some people who took the Orwellian tack of renaming something because its name incorporated units they didn't approve of.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
You can use the same charger you got with your iPod Mini (Apple's first USB charger) in 2005 on your iPhone, iPod or iPad today. And all recent Apple iDevices (for a couple years now) also support the USB charging spec standard, so you can use other chargers that weren't created for Apple's devices.
Although performance may vary since some chargers produce more current than others.
So you don't need to throw away or buy new chargers. Apple did change the device connector though, so you have to get a new cable. Your phone comes with one, so you should be set there. Maybe future phones won't come with them to save on materials there too. People would probably complain about that too.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
ah, wow. yes, so you are still stuck in the days when someone can advertise something like dual core and you immediately think it is equivalent quality? next you'll tell me core clock is a primary determinant of of processor performance on a modern CPU.....
Have you ever tried to get a micro usb cable in quickly ? it's rubbish, it will not go in before I have tried for at least 4 times, and it's quite irritating. The standard Apple has created is 'ease of use'. It goes in the first time, every time, even when I'm in a hurry. No matter which way I stick it in, it works.
That's how it is SUPPOSED to be. That is why Apple is raking in the money. They make good products with ease of use. Why other companies still struggle to understand that they first have to make things that work before you will make money is beyond me.
Why make a standard that doesn't work and then try to shove it down everybody elses gullets seems to me that they are trying to make money off of Apple, and Apple doesn't bite.
So now Apple is the bad guy for not keeping to a bad standard ? I don't think so.
Apple has been making standards for some time now, and everybody shouldjust follow that.
Ease of use is nr. 1.
"Don't shoot the messenger" doesn't just apply when you disagree with the message.
Lightening has a lower bandwidth than USB2.0 so comparing it to USB3.0 doesn't make a lot of sense.
Let's standardize all of the electrical outlets first. Which one should we choose?? http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm
Translation: Let's start with a really big infrastructure project on standardization that will affect maybe 1% of the world's population instead of a smaller one that affects more than 80% of the world by some counts. Yeah, I can't imagine why they would start there, either.
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
You probably intend to be funny, but imagine a peer-to-peer power system when you're in town out of battery ! could be nice. Technically impossible maybe but anyway.
What does it mean, "appended to the end of comments you post"
"Nokia Design Guru"
With a Guru in design employed you would think that they could design phones that sell.
Are you being obtuse on purpose, or are you just an iFanboy? All that matters to the user is how it FEELS and I got news for ya pal, while I haven't tried the $60 one yet i HAVE sold a couple of the $80 ones and ya know what? They could not be happier! Its responsive, plays all their fav games, plays movies, they love the hell out of them.
So you keep right on waving the iFlag and watch as the numbers keep going down down down. Last figures i saw had them losing almost 10% from last year and that trend? WILL continue. At the end of the day ALL that matters to Joe and Jane Consumer is "will it do what i want it to?" and the answer is most certainly YES IT WILL.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
If you want to charge a non-lightning thing off it you only need a USB A (standard size) to microUSB B cable.
I have many of these lying around. And when I go on trips, I take only a two-headed cable (one micro USB, one mini USB) and a microUSB B to lightning adaptor as you mentioned. Then I can charge all the things I brought on my trip, whether Apple or not.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
are in some cases incompatible which means the "standard" is a standard in name only.
Some devices do not work (DOA, or some other defect), so all the devices out there are devices in name only. Better have no devices because SOME do not work.
Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
My Kyocera was about $115 after taxes (no contract or subsidy).
Free Martian Whores!
Everyone in the comments seems to think Nokia has something other than selfish intentions. There are more popular accessories built around the lightning connector than the micro-usb connector and lightning has only been out a year. Nokia (and others) would love to be able to participate in the third party accesory market, but everyone focuses on Apple because it is better demographic. Nokia would like Apple to adopt something they can use so their users can have cool accessories too.
In about 2003 or 2004 I lovingly owned an iPod and couldn't wait for the next generation to come out because I was sure it would be all-bluetooth for data transfer. Why would a leading company like Apple stick with a cable? That would be stupid.
Apple is stupid. They not only stuck with cables in general, but they stuck with a proprietary cable. It is precisely that proprietary cable that made me not only stop buying iPods, but stop buying all Apple products.
So why do you repeat yourself with that lame reply?
Lightning can't do HD video (microUSB can do 1080p, wheras lightning can barely manage 720p) and it won't last 10 years either.
So the only standard is "there will be no standard" in your world.
"...has a big hole in the center asking for stuff to get stuck in it, and needs to be inserted a specific direction, both flaws you cannot associate with lightning
Well then what's this [cnet.co.uk] if not a "big hole in the center asking for stuff to get stuck in it"?
"Any port on any device."
So lightning, being a port on a device, ...has a big hole in the center asking for stuff to get stuck in it".
But it's Apple, so that's a GOOD thing, right, trollski?
I'm no "Design Guru" but I am an end user and I prefer the Lightning Cable to the micro usb because it doesn't matter which way you put it in, it works. I've destroyed an mp3 player trying to use a micro and not having it in correctly. Because I have vision problems, small items are difficult to view; hence, I totally destroyed both the connector and the mp3 player while trying to put the cable in. Just my opinion! Ron
There simply is NO PROBLEM to solve.
Basically you have a laggard company boss who's products represent a minority position because the parents, Microsoft and Nokia, neither of which saw the market change coming, didn't bother to lead the market to define the change, mismanaged the products and R&D they had control over and now they are crying foul about companies that did a better job than them. Fuck them! Is Samsung complaining hard about Apple, or are they simply moving on and defining the market as much as Apple has? Obviously the latter.
Microsoft/Nokia is a has-been company that simply needs to get their damned act together or they need to die and exit the market for phones and computers just like Wang Computer, Data General and every other company that is a has-been and mismanages their reactions to disruptive technology change.
And you think abolishing regulations will lead to that, rather than corporations supplying what suits them best?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You all are stupid as fuck and i include Nokia in this comment.
First Apple makes money off making you buy overpriced cables. also i was reading IOS 7 blocks non-apple connectors, so untill that shit gets hacked or you have a jailbroken phone, good luck using a fake cable.
I have one of them Apple MicroUSB adapters. Pretty pricy but it works with ANY microUSB cable.
That's not how Amps and Volts work.
You could plug a 10amp charger in and it wouldn't do anything bad.
However if it was 6V instead of 5V you would (well, may) fry it.
You can't push Amps, the device will only ever pull what it needs.
However you can indeed push Volts and fry the thing.
EE nitpicking time: actually, this simply isn't true. There are two basic types of regulated direct current power supply: constant voltage (the more familiar kind, which you're incorrectly assuming is the only kind) and constant current.
C.V. supplies try to maintain constant voltage across any load, varying current as the load's power demand changes. The varying current part is because circuits obey Ohm's Law, which states that V = I * R (voltage = current * resistance). If the supply holds voltage constant, and the load's equivalent resistance varies over time (i.e. the load's power demand is not constant), the current through the load must vary in inverse proportion to the load resistance in order to satisfy Ohm's Law.
A constant current (C.C.) supply is merely one designed to hold the current parameter constant rather than voltage. C.C. supplies do in fact exist, although most of them are tiny ones embedded in devices which you don't see. For example, it's very common to use a tiny high precision C.C. supply in sensor reading circuits. Many sensors vary their resistance in proportion to the sensed physical parameter, so if you put a constant current through the sensor and measure the voltage across it, you can do trivial math to derive the sensor's resistance and hence the physical parameter.
Cell phone chargers should all be constant voltage supplies, but this doesn't mean that it's impossible to build a supply to push constant current through a load.
This really is just vendor lock in of the worst kind.
No, it's not. Please don't exaggerate. I have an iPhone 5. What Apple included in the box: a USB charger with a completely standard type-A USB jack, and a Lightning-to-USB-A cable. If I bought an Android phone, I could use the Apple charger to charge it, and I could use the Android phone's charger to charge the iPhone.
I have owned 5 smart phones over the years. I am glad all the cords match up. I keep one in the three main rooms of my home to keep my phone charged. In the kitchen while I cook using the phone as a recipie book and music player. I listen to audio books while I work in the office. I charge my phone next to my bed while I sleep. I keep a charger or two in each car. I can't afford the cost to replace all of these chargers in my home. Moving the plug 4-5 times every day is annoying. Apple will never have me as a customer while they keep their charging firmat policy.
I have the same opinion about closed source hardware that I do of closed source software. May their foo-foo connectors rot in hell with Betamax and Memory Sticks.
When companies are coerced to use a connector that they would otherwise not use, it's one step further away from a free market, there's one less area where companies can compete to provide a superior experience, and consumers are not free to choose which solution best meets their needs.
It's in a manufacturer's best interest to stick to a standard connector, unless there is a compelling reason not to. Twits in government are generally not qualified to second-guess the decisions of world-class industrial designers, like Sir Jonathan Ive.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
For Apple the patent seems to be used to exclude competition
That's rather the whole reason anyone patents anything: as a reward for inventing something novel, you'll get relief from competition for a certain number of years. (Or, if you sell your intellectual property to someone who is better equipped to commercialize it, what the buyer is actually buying is relief from competition.)
If you plan to give your invention away royalty-free, why even go to the trouble of applying for a patent? Building prestige, I suppose: the consortium can brag that "we hold X number of patents," even if those patents otherwise don't confer any financial advantages.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Sure... if Apple decided to make their Lightning-related intellectual property available royalty-free, that would be the best of both worlds for consumers.
You're free to lobby Apple to do that.
And they are free to consider your arguments, and respond with a yes, no, or no response at all.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Vendor lock-in is never good for consumers. If phone manufacturers had worked like you said and mostly stuck to a standard connector except in cases when they had a better one then I guarantee this legislation wouldn't even have been suggested. Instead we had a situation where every single phone manufacture had a different charging/data socket (none of which were any better than any others) and simply used that to charge over the odds for data and charging cables, both ripping off consumers and creating mountains of thrown away proprietary chargers.
In this case the free market failed to serve consumers, there was no competition between different connector designs, connectors were simply created for the sake of having a different connector to sell expensive peripherals for.
Twits in government are generally not qualified to second-guess the decisions of world-class industrial designers
The government didn't invent micro-usb you dolt, it was created as a standard by world-class industrial designers. The fact that it is an industry standard makes it an obvious choice for a standard power/data socket on phones.
Now, if Sir Jonathan Ive was actually interested in serving the public good rather than lining his own pocket then why was he not there advising the USB Implementers Forum on connector designs?
Introducing the iLamp (requires iBulbs). See the problem?
No, I'd need more information to determine whether there's a problem. If iBulbs use 99% less power than standard bulbs, and emit a more pleasing light, and cost only 1% more than standard bulbs, it would be a safe bet that iBulbs would soon become the standard.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
I went to my local Best Buy and less than half of the phones there had Micro USB ports. Going by sales numbers I wouldn't be surprised if lightning already outsells Micro-USB phones.
Also, NOTHING else except phones uses Micro-USB. (Except Google's HDMI plug.) Camcorders continue to use Mini-USB or proprietary connectors. Hard drives use the larger USB 3 connectors, so they come with cables that can't be used to charge phones. (Except one model I saw.) I saw an 8-pin Micro-USB plug, and have no idea what that plugs into. While there are some variations of Micro USB that can carry 1080p video or be adapted to a memory card, you can't tell by looking at a given phone if it supports those accessories. I'd assume by the law-of-cheap that most don't. With lightning, you always know everything lightning works.
Also Boom-box docks exist only for Lightning. Micro-USB is too physically weak to be used this way. Micro-USB 3 could be used like this, but as I said, only one model of phone at Best Buy.