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Reply to: EU Bans Lightning

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Previously on "EU Bans Lightning"

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  • vetran
    replied
    Originally posted by WTFH View Post
    This leads on to an interesting thought (for Vet & co)

    Should the UK go back to 240VAC rather than 230VAC?
    In the 1980s and earlier, we were officially 240VAC mains, but that changed in the 90s onwards, that we are now nominally 230VAC. This is the same as wonderful Australia (used to be 240, changed to 230) and evil EU (used to be 220, now 230)
    why? Oh you can only think about things in terms of winning and losing at Brexit not what works!

    You must be a Brexidiot

    Leave a comment:


  • d000hg
    replied
    Originally posted by mattster View Post

    Our new car has USB C sockets throughout, so rather annoyingly have now had to purchase a few C-C cables, whereas the house is full of built in USB A. I'd rather imagined that USB A would remain the standard for the "powered" end, since it is so prevalent now, and presumably absolutely fine for power only. Having said that the car does have data as well so maybe that explains it.
    C-C works very nicely so longer term I would like that but as you say, everyone has standardised on USB-A, even Apple, at the 'supply' end so I think that might be some time away.


    Do you know if the USB C standard will have to apply to these sorts of things as well then? Loads of rechargeable gadgets use micro USB now.
    From the story "The EU has provisionally agreed all new portable electronic devices must, by autumn 2024, use a USB Type-C charger, a move it says will benefit consumers". So I am guessing yes - the news coverage is overwhelmingly about Apple but it seems it would cover everyone selling micro-USB as well and that is seemingly still the majority for made-in-china electronics, though USBC is getting more common all the time.

    Leave a comment:


  • WTFH
    replied
    Originally posted by Paddy View Post

    It must take ages to charge your car via USB-C
    He's got a LaFerrari

    Leave a comment:


  • Paddy
    replied
    Originally posted by mattster View Post

    Our new car has USB C sockets throughout, so rather annoyingly have now had to purchase a few C-C cables, whereas the house is full of built in USB A. I'd rather imagined that USB A would remain the standard for the "powered" end, since it is so prevalent now, and presumably absolutely fine for power only. Having said that the car does have data as well so maybe that explains it.




    Do you know if the USB C standard will have to apply to these sorts of things as well then? Loads of rechargeable gadgets use micro USB now.
    It must take ages to charge your car via USB-C

    Leave a comment:


  • WTFH
    replied
    Originally posted by mattster View Post

    Our new car has USB C sockets throughout, so rather annoyingly have now had to purchase a few C-C cables, whereas the house is full of built in USB A. I'd rather imagined that USB A would remain the standard for the "powered" end, since it is so prevalent now, and presumably absolutely fine for power only. Having said that the car does have data as well so maybe that explains it.

    Do you know if the USB C standard will have to apply to these sorts of things as well then? Loads of rechargeable gadgets use micro USB now.
    USB C can be up to 20V and up to 5A, USB A is 5V and then the current depends on which USB standard the socket conforms to.
    USB C is also a far faster data transfer, etc, and the idea is to move away from old MicroUSB A/B and on to something with a wider range of power and speed.

    Leave a comment:


  • mattster
    replied
    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    Am I right that this only covers the end that you stick in your device? The source end can still be USB-A or some awful hard-wired adapter? Bi-directional USBC could be nice eventually but many of us have replaced all our power outlets with ones featuring USB
    Our new car has USB C sockets throughout, so rather annoyingly have now had to purchase a few C-C cables, whereas the house is full of built in USB A. I'd rather imagined that USB A would remain the standard for the "powered" end, since it is so prevalent now, and presumably absolutely fine for power only. Having said that the car does have data as well so maybe that explains it.

    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    It's not only phones, as above there are thousands of things from earbuds to fairly lights.

    Do you know if the USB C standard will have to apply to these sorts of things as well then? Loads of rechargeable gadgets use micro USB now.

    Leave a comment:


  • PerfectStorm
    replied
    The World is moving to USB-C, as are apple. My MacBook uses it as its sole charging/everything else port too.

    Lightning was a great innovation in its day - smaller than the 30 pin iPod connector, not as crushable as mini/micro USB. USB-C may as well be a Lightning the world can use.

    Leave a comment:


  • WTFH
    replied
    This leads on to an interesting thought (for Vet & co)

    Should the UK go back to 240VAC rather than 230VAC?
    In the 1980s and earlier, we were officially 240VAC mains, but that changed in the 90s onwards, that we are now nominally 230VAC. This is the same as wonderful Australia (used to be 240, changed to 230) and evil EU (used to be 220, now 230)

    Leave a comment:


  • d000hg
    replied
    In addition, you can change the plug on your appliances - or supply them without a plug - so the issue of wastage and confusion isn't there.


    Originally posted by WTFH View Post

    I don't know how many of those are routinely used but somehow I'm not surprsied.

    Leave a comment:


  • WTFH
    replied
    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    US power outlets are the ones I find most scary but then they are 120V so a big difference. Except that USA being USA, they have more than one power outlet - for heavier duty stuff they use 3 pin plugs (and possibly 240V?)
    If only it were that simple!
    https://www.stayonline.com/product-r...ence-chart.asp

    Leave a comment:


  • WTFH
    replied
    Originally posted by vetran View Post
    Yeah it would be pretty stupid for a diddly country like the UK to stipulate something like the plug on an appliance we should all use the lethal ones adopted in the EU.
    Nice bit of whatabouttery there. We're talking about the connection for a mobile phone to a charger, not how your oven is wired.
    Since there isn't a single EU standard for mains plugs and sockets, it's hard to say why they are all lethal, particularly the ones in Ireland.

    Leave a comment:


  • d000hg
    replied
    US power outlets are the ones I find most scary but then they are 120V so a big difference. Except that USA being USA, they have more than one power outlet - for heavier duty stuff they use 3 pin plugs (and possibly 240V?)

    Leave a comment:


  • vetran
    replied
    Originally posted by WTFH View Post

    It's not an issue if the UK doesn't copy it, what it means is that phones made in the UK without

    the standard will not be allowed to be sold in the EU. That's not an issue, given the volume of phones made in the UK.
    It's also not an issue, because if the manufacturers want to sell abroad, they will design to suit where they want to sell.
    And finally, it's not an issue if all the big manufacturers want to sell in Europe, then any new products will have the standard. They can dump all their old stock in countries that are backward and insular.
    Until wileyfox went bust they used usbc. Apple just want to lock in technology, if they wanted to innovate they would open their designs, Magsafe is a brilliant idea where cables cross office walkways, but patented.

    Yeah it would be pretty stupid for a diddly country like the UK to stipulate something like the plug on an appliance we should all use the lethal ones adopted in the EU. Other examples available see most british electrical standards, car safety and medicine safety.

    https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/...0nasty%20shock.

    The fuse and sturdy construction prove the British plug is very clearly the safest in the world. But it's better than that, because the sockets also feature shutters that prevent children from inserting paperclips and getting a nasty shock.

    Leave a comment:


  • d000hg
    replied
    It would be pretty stupid for an individual country, especially a small one like the, UK to make these sort of stipulations IMO. EU as a bloc is large enough for it to carry proper clout. As WTFH says, it'll filter down to us. But it does mean we might be able to get products not available in EU if some manufacturers are less quick to adopt - especially if USA doesn't mirror EU (anyone know?). All those things using micro-USB for instance, there might be a booming market for more specialist items that don't have a direct USBC equivalent.

    Am I right that this only covers the end that you stick in your device? The source end can still be USB-A or some awful hard-wired adapter? Bi-directional USBC could be nice eventually but many of us have replaced all our power outlets with ones featuring USB


    Originally posted by eek View Post

    Because there is zero point - mainly because all android phones will be using usb c by then and it's 50/50 as to whether Apple switch to usb c or switch their phones to wireless charging.
    It's not only phones, as above there are thousands of things from earbuds to fairly lights.

    Leave a comment:


  • eek
    replied
    Originally posted by darmstadt View Post
    The UK government says it is not "currently considering" copying European Union plans for a common charging cable.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61720276

    In the UK iPhones will have tiny steam engines instead of batteries and be refueled via a water pipe of 1/4 inch gauge and will automatically shut down if you try and use anything other than British coal.
    Because there is zero point - mainly because all android phones will be using usb c by then and it's 50/50 as to whether Apple switch to usb c or switch their phones to wireless charging.

    Leave a comment:

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