[rikkus]

It's a good point. With my current USB devices, I know that the short cable will charge my phone properly and the long one won't. I know that I've seen a 'charge only' cable. I'm not sure this will be fixed with the newer USB standards.

[jessaustin]

In my experience, many micro-USB cables that won't charge simply have worn plugs. That is, if you wiggle it just right, it will charge, but when you leave it lying on the desk it won't. However a new cable of the exact same SKU will fit so tight you can hang the phone from a wall socket with it. I think this is good engineering, because something will wear out, and it's much less bother to replace a $2 cable than it is to fix a worn-out USB jack in your phone.