[specializeded]

How pedantic would it to argue a difference between standards like USB and mandates in discussions like these?

I've seen a worrying conflation between the two in online discussions about this topic for the past day or so. Negative takes towards this are met with at least one "without standards we would have a thousand different chargers, remember what it was like in 2000?"?

Am I off base here? This will come across as a concern troll but I'm genuinely curious about other views on this.

[Doxin]

Without standards we would still have a thousand different chargers. There is no incentive for manufacturers to standardise on any charging standard. That includes USB. Before the mandate on phone chargers I owned a phone that would allow file transfer over USB but not charging. Charging using a proprietary charger with a proprietary connector.