Lightning was already perfect for what USB-C does and more. It's frustrating that they're making yet another port now. The problem is that nothing else could have a Lightning port because Apple didn't allow it.
The problem with lightning isn't its flexibility, it is its bus limitations in the first place.
Lightning is just a multifaceted adapter port. It is not an integrated logic board bus system. All it does is sense what is trying to be done on one end, and convert that to usable data/audio/video on the other. That's what the tiny little chip in each adapter does. The fact that it does this effectively in software (in the little chip) is probably also why its bandwidth appears to be
limited to USB 2.0 levels which is why it still takes just as long to synchronise your iDevices on your USB 3.0 enabled Mac as it did with a USB 2.0 Mac. Lightning can't do more than 1080p video out for this reason as well, and couldn't do Gigabit Ethernet either.
What it did do was offer two way charging capability, and reversibility, as well as being way more compact...all things which have been implemented in the USB-C standard. Plus the USB-C has native mDP 1.2, meaning monitors can be USB-C only and support up to almost 4k. The bandwidth means it can do that, support Gb Ethernet, charge itself and connected peripherals, and do high speed data transfer, all at the same time out of one port.
Having a small desktop dock that looks like half of an external superdrive with USB-A, SDXC, Ethernet, HDMI, and mDP for when you are at your primary workspace, as well as one small multi-adapter like the one Apple is already selling for on the go, means that you won't need more than one USB-C on a portable machine (iPhone, iPad, Macbook) or two on a "pro" machine to connect two external monitors (Macbook Pro).
At this point it is a toss up as to whether we are going to see USB-C on the iDevices or not. It makes tons of sense, you could use the same adapters or docks you use with your Mac then, and for Apple, it is a way to maintain growth in the segment as markets mature. The more accessories available due to standard connectors, the more the ecosystem builds upon itself. They can still control what iDevices can and can't do with USB, but they might actually be moving away from that slowly as they open up iOS more and more.
With a current bandwidth of 10 Gbps (gen 2 USB 3.1 - not in the new MB, which uses gen 1 3.1 @ 5 Gbps) and likely to double again in the next generation, it is going to be equal to Thunderbolt 2/3 but way more versatile. This could be the connector that finally does everything.
Lightning was never going to be that.
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If I am not mistaken, USB-C actually doesn't comply with this ruling, so unless I am mistaken (which I very well could be) then this has had very little impact on the move to USB-C.