Comments on: ComputerWorld Accuses Apple of Killing Universal Cell Chargers

By: Europe Gets Handset Makers to Agree to Universal Charger

Europe Gets Handset Makers to Agree to Universal Charger — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:26:37 +0000

[...] Monday, June 29, 2009 | 8:26 AM PT | 0 comments Nokia, Motorola, Research in Motion, Apple (yes, even Apple) and six other cell phone makers have agreed to a European Commission request to develop a [...]

By: ol' yeller

ol' yeller — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:20:21 +0000

@alexander

been talk of universal chargers for years, but you’re probably right that a little iphone fear helped move things along.

@jake

wouldn’t it be nice to be able to use anyone’s charger when you’re in need?

@bob

oh yes, all those incredible technologies wrapped into the apple connectors that enable amazing things like data transfer and charging. snap, i thought usb did that too?

By: Alexander Horre

Alexander Horre — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:11:19 +0000

To think: there was no talk of universal charger before Apple’s iPhone came to the party.

By: austinandrew

austinandrew — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:16:28 +0000

@ Jake – I think you’re hinting at this in your second paragraph, but the good thing about this is I don’t need to replace my charger with an expensive one when I lose it or when I buy a second one for the office. If I’m at a friends house I can just plug into their charger. The benefits are greater than they first appear…

By: Bob K

Bob K — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:54:10 +0000

The “universal charger” socket is nothing more than micro-USB, a feature promoted by a cellular industry trade group who would either love to have a piece of Apple’s pie or boot them out of the market. The iPhone already has USB (along with video, audio, serial, and yes, some proprietary magic) on the dock connector it shares with all(*) other iPods. Adding a new socket on the iPhone just for charging is utterly pointless.

But, kudos for any manufacturers with the guts to agree on a standardized connector. They’re doing everyone a big favor.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:14:27 +0000

One fewer cord cluttering up their outlet?

Doesn’t this just mean one charger will work with several brands of cell phones? I have one cell phone. It uses one charger. I’ll still have one cord – universal or otherwise. I know, I know – for the power testers who carry 10 cell phones around, it will be a boon. Goody for you.

This doesn’t really help the consumer – it helps the cell phone manufacturers and kitters. They can source a universal charger which presumably will have economies of scale behind it. The charger may now NOT be included with the cell phone, so kitters can now pair up cell phones with chargers. Perhaps, even, the consumer will be “allowed” to purchase the charger separately from the cell phone.

Innovation runs wild!

By: ol' yeller

ol' yeller — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:10:42 +0000

jobs is no dummy.

learned from his mistakes the first time around with msft and has succeeded in building an ecosystem that is more proprietary in an evil sort of way than microsoft’s ever was.

this includes profiting from the sale of high margin, but unnecessarily proprietary, connectors, chargers, cords and so on.

hopefully someone *can* build an apple proprietary to standard adapter *and* not get sued out of existence. patent experts?

By: Wai Yip Tung

Wai Yip Tung — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:38:51 +0000

Well, just make an adaptor from the “universal charger” to iPhone. Apple’s proprietary interface is a pain I must said. I have to buy a whole set of cables and chargers for my office, my home, my car, etc in order to keep it connected and charged.