[insickness]

The question of whether standards are beneficial and whether the government should mandate standards are two completely separate questions.

[beardyw]

Well only governments can mandate standards, and if they don't it's just wishful thinking isn't it?

[galangalalgol]

There are plenty of non governmental standards. Some like openGL or http are driven by industry consortiums. Others like keurig/Nespresso generic pods, x86 chips, or cup holder sizes are driven by compatibility with wildly successful products.

Edit: usb-c is both the former and the latter. Macbooks and ipads had already switched, it seems likely the next iphone would have been usb-c anyway, or perhaps portless.