USB C

Totally agree! Predatory anti-consumer decisions by companies should be curbed, and paying $40 for a new charger when one breaks is unreasonable. Consumer protection standards need to be brought up to EU standards in North America.

This is great news! Thank you for sharing. Indeed crazy to think that such a simple (to me at least) fix to a huge e-waste problem has not yet been implemented in North America!

That is a interesting case! The unified plug is handy. Not only can we reduce the use of wire, but the everyday use of all wires can allow us not to use a variety of messy wires, which is not only to help users but also can reduce the supply of wire, which is more environmentally friendly. I think Apple should go to the use of USB C. It should not be self-serving for their benefit.

Universal adoption of USB C would be a fantastic move! As Apple is headquartered in the US though it is quite unlikely as they probably have lobbyists.

I want all charging devices to be USB C or TYPE-C

This thing is so good! This choice of the EU may have been made after many considerations, such as environmental, resource and economic factors. But I don't care! I only care when all devices around the world can become USB C!!!

Hi Kevin, I totally agree with you that our world nowadays lack real leaders that dare to make systematic change that may offend powerful stakeholders. Even though, we all know using a universal plug will be far more convenient for all consumers as well as our environement, but just becasue of profits, business reject to act.

Such an interesting post! I also want a unified charger in my home. However, I don't think Apple will follow the EU laws in region outside Europe because they did the same unethical thing outside Europe last time.

Hi Kevin, I had no idea this law was passed! I love the idea that everything converts to the same plug (thus foiling apples plans to keep changing their charger over and over again). Same as you I really wish North America could do this as well, especially as we have such big tech regions like Silicon Valley.

Hi Kevin,

Great post! I really like how you tied in a previous class' topic of planned obsolescence into this week's and I agree how more protection through the forms of laws should be implemented for the consumers. We need the government to get more involved in regulations in order to make it more feasible for us at the individual level to contribute to real change in sustainability.

Honestly, apple's planned obsolescence is both ingenious and atrocious. As a marketing scheme it works wonders but as a consumer it's the most annoying thing ever!! After years with a 2012 macbook air, I finally upgraded to one of the newer models this September. This also means that I needed to either buy completely new plugs and accessories or get a bunch of adaptors. The most frustrating part was with the HDMI ports though. Apple had to be fancy and only have thunderbolt port in the 2012 model so I bought the required thunderbolt-HDMI to plug my computer into a tv to watch shows on a larger screen. All good, right? HA! Then apple goes and changes it to a regular HDMI port so the cord I'd bought for the previous model is rendered useless. The frustration around apple's wastefulness and inconsistency is honestly making me consider leaving the apple ecosystem for a more standardized one.

interesting post kevin it would be great if the iphone switched to USB C

I agree! Governments should be making more of a push towards more sustainable tech, like the EU adopting a universal charging cable. I would love to also see governments pushing tech businesses to offer repairable technology rather than technology that intentionally gets old and unusable after a few years.

Hi Kevin Jiang, I wasn't aware about the current situation regarding Apple and EU laws, how interesting! I agree the liberties the private sector has with regards to their environmental and consumer impact is far from what it should be.