Wired
Had taken some pictures which I needed to email to a client . Thought I'd send it from home . Took the USB cable out of the bag only to find that it is for the phone and not the camera . I'll have to wait until tomorrow to locate the cable for the camera to email the images .
The sheer (unnecessary ) variety of cables , chargers , wires is mind boggling . If you have a computer , a mobile phone and a camera you are likely to have / need 5-6 wires between chargers , USB cables . And it doesn't help that some of the wires / cables look similar . Add 1-2 more devices like an ipod and perhaps a second phone - your bag can start to look like the store room of an electrical store.
The impact on the environment alone in terms of resources spent in manufacturing these pointlessly varied contraptions is criminal . This has reached ridiculous levels with phone companies making different types of chargers for their various phone models . Nokia used to have a common charger across their various phones .Which added to the appeal of using a Nokia phone .You could always get a charger for your Nokia phone . Not any more . Nokia decided to abandon good sense and make a new design of chargers for their E-series phone.
This variety in chargers , USB cables makes as much sense as wine companies designing corks in a way that need a special opener for each wine brand .
It's high time that device manufacturers collaborated on a common standard (and design ) for chargers , USB cables to be kinder on the environment and the consumers.
2 comments:
Surely the manufacturers have heard the cry of numerous users with this unnecessary divergence, and have still chosen not to standardize..thereby ruining the environment with their different chords, cables connectors, plugs, batteries and switches..this strange behavior dates back to the 1800s when the americans had the switches and road directions reversed just bcoz the british did it the other way.. huge investments were made to invert the car drives just to be different..
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/mobile-industry.html
...Several mobile phone companies on Tuesday announced a plan to adopt a universal cellphone charger, making it possible, at long last, for consumers to get rid of the tangle of incompatible old chargers filling up the bottom drawer of their desks.
Spearheaded by the Group Special Mobile Association (GSMA), the initiative involves 17 mobile companies, including Nokia, LG and AT&T committed to implementing Micro USB on all their cellphones by Jan. 1, 2012. Once adopted, the standard would allow any phone to be charged with a standard USB cable, which could draw its power from a PC, laptop, or USB power adapter.
Neel, thanks for the link .
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