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by jollybean 1351 days ago
? how did self regulation fail ? There's nothing wrong with the way iPhone charges. This is an unnecessary intervention. There are plenty of bigger, more relevant fish to fry.
2 comments

> There's nothing wrong with the way iPhone charges.

Well. I'm lugging around one cable which charges all my devices from bike lamps to powerbanks. And there is a totally different cable I'm also lugging around to charge my iphone. Why is that necessary?

Also my iphone charging cable frays all time, while my "everything else charging cable" does not.

> Why is that necessary?

Because you chose to buy a phone that uses Lightning, rather than choosing to buy a phone that uses USB-C.

I doubt the charging port is the most important factor in choosing a phone for most people.

Similar to how I voted for Biden even though I don't agree with 100% of his policies. It doesn't mean I don't disagree with him often - it's just that I only get one vote, so I have to prioritize. It's perfectly consistent for me to complain and make my opinion known when his administration does things I disagree with.

Agreed. This is the better way to argue that we vote with our dollars. If iPhone had a monopoly (which they absolutely don't) intervention is welcome. There is no reason anyone is forced to use a Lightning cable and still enjoy the fair marketplace.
Where do I get to vote for an iPhone with a USB-C port with my wallet?

I'm trying to vote for a device that runs iOS and uses a standard usb cable. Please specify the ballot box.

As far as I know, the marketplace offers no choice, so I need to use alternative voting to make it available

You get to vote by not purchasing an iPhone and buying an android that has usb-c. You have no divine right to a device running a proprietery Operating System developed by a company with a port of your choice if said company doesn't want to manufacture it as such.
"Why is that necessary?"

Why is any product feature necessary or not?

If you want to buy something with a USB-C then buy that. If you want Apple to change then let them know.

"Get the government to make a company make a choice I want" is really naive and glib.

There is no systematic issue here - if this were household wiring, there would be, but this is not that.

Every product has different configurations, different requirements. In particular, with smart phones, the extra thickness of the USBC actually makes it harder to design around - the issues has side effects.

Governments should be regulating where there is a material necessity or safety concern, not otherwise.

In particular - your 'bike lamps and power lamps' have totally different product requirements.

The government could conceivably help an Engineering body to promote a narrower set of clean standards, but this is too much.

Relevant, probably. Bigger. Probably not. Apple is huge.
Just because Apple is huge doesn't mean any issue that involves Apple in any way is huge.