There’s an old joke about some proposed device that would benefit the world. The U.S. said, “We’ll bring the design.” China said, “We’ll bring the manufacturing.” Europe said, “We’ll bring the regulation.” That’s a bit unfair, of course, but like all satire it has a kernel of truth.
Case in point. The EU has finally made good on their crusade to make everyone use the same charger cables. It’s easy to feel that this a largely a good thing. After all, it will reduce the number of different types of chargers and make users’ lives marginally easier. We here at Irreal are not fans of this sort of thing.
First of all, the diverse cables are not really much of a problem even by first world standards. Yes, it’s a minor inconvenience but in the Irreal bunker we have MacBooks, iPhones, and iWatches all of which use different cables but it just never occurs to us to complain or think the different cables are an imposition.
Secondly, this is the classic case where the market really does work. If people actually feel strongly about this issue, they’ll punish those companies—and let’s be honest, we’re talking about Apple here—that don’t offer a standard interface by buying from their competitors.
Finally, and most important, why in the world would we let a bunch of bureaucrats with no real knowledge of the technology involved decide what type of electronics can be offered? You can be sure that these people all had the time on their DVRs flashing all through the 90s and perhaps even today. They are the absolute last group of people any rational person would want making these types of decisions.
Judging by the comments on the issue, the Irreal position is not the popular one but it is the correct one.