Gripe o' the Day
December 3rd, 2006 Posted in Main Page
In my office, I have more than a dozen AC/DC power units for a variety of electronics devices ranging from cell phones and MP3 players to radios. The problem is most of them are totally useless because the devices they're supposed to power have been lost or been broken. And if I still have the device, the power unit has been lost or its broken. How comes the consumer electronics industry can't create a single standard for power units - a one size fits all approach? I mean, if the high-tech industry can agree on USB standards, you'd think something as established as electrical power units would be a snap.
December 3rd, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Odd, I've found exactly the opposite. I always keep transformers because if one breaks or gets lost from another gadget I can find one to replace it from my pile.
As for the one size fits all approach the problem is that one size doesn't fit all. Some devices have different voltage requirements, some have different current draws. Even USB “standards” are BS. You've got the A connector and the B connector for the PC side. Each device is free to have its own connector. Between an MP3 player, a blackberry, and a digital camera I have three different, incompatible cables.
And, even from an electrical standpoint USB is an ignored standard. Look at all the gadgets you can plug in to your USB bus that are just drawing power from the host. USB specifies something like 500mW@5vDC per device and you can get mini refridgerators and coffee warmers running on that? Yea right.
Sean
December 4th, 2006 at 12:08 am
2 words…
Make Money!
December 4th, 2006 at 3:16 am
Simple TEMPORARY solution. I keep a couple of these lying around and I'm all good!
December 4th, 2006 at 5:12 am
I would settle for having an international emergency number instead of having to remember whether I should be dialing 911, 119, 911, 112…?!?!
December 4th, 2006 at 7:26 am
You're not alone - Korean cel manufacturers decided some time ago to standardize charge and sync:
http://www.robhyndman.com/2005/12/13/standardized-sync-and-charge-ports-on-devices/