I’ll preface this by saying I like the iPhone getting USB-C - I think it’s a great idea.
Apple is by no means perfect, but governments of the world are the least efficient and effective groups of people ever assembled. Let the government build their own smartphone if they want - but the EU sticking their nose into product design would only end with an abomination of an iPhone that no one would want to use.
I don’t think any government should have a say in the products companies design, beyond safety considerations. Let the market sort it out - if people want USB C bad enough they will buy phones with USB C and Apple will have to adapt. That’s the joy of a free market.
P.S. - Remember governments aren’t your friend 👍🏻
Precisely. I couldn't care less about what port Apple uses. The point is that
Apple should be the one who gets to decide that, not the EU or any other governmental organization.
And one could no doubt make the argument that forcing Apple to fundamentally re-engineer (if it's even possible) AS, resulting in higher costs for the consumer, degraded performance, etc. would NOT benefit the consumer.
There's also a very real argument to be made for forcing Apple and every other consumer electronics company to standardize charging cables/ports. There is a clear consumer benefit and minimal cost to the product manufacturers. Proprietary cables do not benefit the consumer in any way.
Nor do I see how they harm me, as the consumer. If I weren't a member of this forum, I would never have dreamt in a million years that people would get up in arms about this topic to the point that they'd actually cheer government for forcing it. All my iPhones came with a charging cable, and I just used them 🤷🏼♂️ It was simply never an issue for me in any way, shape, or form.
The reality is, almost no one upgrades their computers, especially these days. I have mixed feelings on how far regulation should go. When it comes to charging cables, though, there's no gray area for me. This is a no-brainer. Having a charging standard for mobile devices greatly benefits everyone, the individual consumer and society as a whole. I'm fine with government stepping in and setting that standard.
Well, certainly not the ones that require extensive "surgery" to upgrade, but ones that are . . . why do you think people don't upgrade those (especially towers)? They certainly do. We'll just have to part ways on charging cables being a "no-brainer" for government regulation over a non-safety issue. It's a clear line that's been stepped over imo. It would also be beneficial to society to eliminate all sugary soft drinks, but I doubt you'd be for that. See, it's not a question of whether you personally believe it's good for society or not, but whether government should be that involved in our lives as a nanny state (whether nannying individuals or corporations).
Where's the evidence that government is trying to exert control over product design? Defining a charging standard hardly rises to the level of government meddling in product design. Governments sets all kind of standards by which corporations must abide. Occasionally these standards impact product design on the margins. There's no evidence that any government is trying to insert themselves in the design process in any significant way.
You admit in your last sentence that they're controlling the product design, just that you think it's in an "insignificant" way. My take is that they shouldn't be controlling it in
any way, big or small, unless it's a direct safety hazard.
I think we've both made out points in multiple ways now, so I'm going to end it here. Thanks.
