Apple contributes to pollution of the planet by encouraging the use of so many different types of charging cables

Are there any problems using different cables?

That’s a question many people ask themselves when reading a report made by Apple, the content revolves around the European Commission (EC) plan to require mobile device manufacturers to adopt a standard charger. The report is 92 pages long, with covers of three charging ports (USB-C, Micro-USB, and Lightning) intimately adjacent to each other like a small bear family. Its title is “United in Diversity” (Unity in Diversity).

How choked.

When Apple pledged to diversify its team of technicians with extravagant salaries, its efforts were on par with the rest of Silicon Valley, which was nothing to praise. The company’s website has a page dedicated to employee diversity, with obscure statistics: they say women account for 38% of all employees under the age of 30. , and concealed the information that the technician team is 77% male and 89% white or Asian!

But when Apple is committed to diversifying its overpriced accessories, you can be confident they can “talk, do it”. Some people have complained that in order to export their brand-new Apple laptop screen to an external monitor, they have to buy an additional $ 69 dongle, and this dongle will not be compatible with the headphone you are using on. recently purchased Apple smartphone. What an “improvement”!

Apple expressed its steadfastness in diversifying dongles after the EU continued its efforts to enforce regulations to require all mobile devices to use a common charger. Standardizing charging cords will help reduce waste and be more beneficial to consumers – those who argue with those rules argue.

This is not the first time the EU has sought to solve the problem of charger standardization: in 2009, phone companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which pledged to work together to come up with a generic charger for threats from EC regulators. Most companies have complied with the Minutes, reducing the number of chargers on the market for non-Apple mobile devices from more than 30 to only 2. But Apple took advantage of a flaw in this MOU to chart its own path, introduce a Lightning charging cable in 2012, and comply with the agreement by producing a (different) conversion adapter.

MacBook Pro users are probably no stranger to these dongles

” We are engulfed in an ocean of electronic waste” – Roza Thun und Hohenstein, a Polish member of the European Parliament, argued in front of the European Parliament last weekend. Approximately 50 million tons of electronic waste is generated each year, or 16.6kg / person in Europe.

Apple countered the EU on Thursday, arguing that the proposed regulation would ” stifle innovation rather than encourage it”. “This regulation will have a direct negative impact when breaking hundreds of millions of devices and accessories being used by our customers in Europe … creating an unprecedented amount of electronic waste. precedent and make users suffer great inconvenience, “ the company said.

The “United in Diversity” report further argues that the environmental benefits of using a common charger are relatively small – € 13 million, compared with € 1.5 billion for damage due to regulatory harm. up innovation (Apple uses the phrase “innovation harm”).

Truly a trillion dollar company is different! Even the arguments they offer are already “diverse” enough – for the customer, and for the environment. Perhaps the word “innovation” today is no longer as meaningful as it used to be.

Reference: Guardians