[serf]

You could add those same DRMs to a USB-C connection and 'manufacturer required' power supply.

Barrel connectors are not proprietary just because someone implemented theirs in some specific way to harm consumers.

In fact USB-C connectors are more likely to implement a DRM, given that the connector comes 'batteries-included' with a data channel that won't need to be re-imagined.

Barrel jacks offer no such boot-straps to would-be DRMers. That isn't to say it's impossible (as HP/Dell/Fujitsu have proven), but a 2 prong barrel jack is going to require a bit more effort.

If you are using proprietary to mean 'consumer-hostile', use a better phrase. Proprietary has specific context to IP/copyright/design.

[chrisseaton]

> If you are using proprietary to mean 'consumer-hostile', use a better phrase.

I'm not - I'm using it to mean non-standard and specific to an individual vendor. I can use my Apple USB-C charger to charge anything accepting USB-C, which is most things these days. I can't use my Dell laptop charger to charge anything except a Dell laptop. That's what I mean by proprietary.

[yellowapple]

> You could add those same DRMs to a USB-C connection and 'manufacturer required' power supply.

And yet I know of exactly zero instances of this happening, probably because it'd be exceptionally silly to do.