| > This is such nonsense, I don't even know where to begin. This was already the case in the US and there is no government mandate for it to be that way. History please. The USB-socket-in-the-phone standard for recharging phones started once China demanded _de jure_ in 2006 that all data-enabled phones could be recharged using mini/micro-USB. That request had a huge impact: at that time Nokia produced phones with data-only USB ports that could not be used to charge the phone. Suddenly "+1" and "C" models of Nokia's phone started appearing, all with the ability to charge using the USB port. Initially these models where sold only in Asia, then the producers started selling them everywhere, just to streamline the production. Then, in 2008, the EU Commission asked the producers of mobile handsets to agree on a standard, whatever standard. If they could not came up with a single solution the Commission threatened that they would _impose_ a solution. In 2010 all the big producers agreed to use micro USB. That was an easy choice, as they were already forced to use it for all the phones sold in China. In 2010/2011 the CEN and ETSI standardization bodies sat down and produced a spec that mirrors the micro-USB spec. Now, in 2013, the EU is about to set the CEN spec in stone. Governments played a big role here. China's regulations first and EU "pressure" later is what lead us to the current status. |