In order to reduce strain on the environment the European Union decided with the top 10 mobile phone manufactures to use a common charger (Press Release). Basically they decided to use a micro-USB for charging. Mobile phones only last 2-3 years on average however the chargers last much longer. By having a standard way of recharging you reuse your old charger.
However I have not seen mobile phone yet which doesn’t come with a charger. So actually we are still producing electronic waste which is not needed and we end up with loads of unused chargers.
When you buy the Nexus One it comes with a US charger and a USB cable. The charger has a fixed cable. If it would have a USB connector the charger one could have saved a cable. Further the charger could be more easily reused to charge devices with a mini USB connection.
When you buy a Nexus One from the UK Google automatically adds a UK charger for which pay an additional $19.95. So you even end up with two chargers in the end.
In my opinion Google should just ship a USB cable with the phone and make a charger optional. I’d prefer if Google in that case would offer an optional dual charger like depicted here on the left, because I would be able to use it charge two devices at once.
What’s your opinion should all devices that are charged by USB come without a charger by default?
I think we should phase out power outlets for USB by assuming that everyone who’s going to buy a Nexus One already has suitable USB ports. If they want to use a laptop, fine. If they want to use an outlet, fine.
The trick is making sure people understand very clearly what they’re expected to already have so they don’t return stuff.
South Korea introduced standardized USB chargers in 2005, China in 2006. We certainly should ensure that chargers are sold as optional extras for all low-voltage appliances (phones and flashlights, MP3 players, game consoles, etc).
Most people must already have at least one micro USB charger by now (although some old ones, e.g. Motorola, are not standard compliant), so there is little excuse for packaging extra junk. Consumers will be sold on the overwhelmingly positive message that they can always find a charger because they are all the same.
I strongly disagree here.
My HTC Tattoo has this charger now, but I hadn’t seen any of those before, ever.
I mean, how often do you people buy new phones? Mine was only 4 years old and still working, just exchanged it for an Android phone.
The last Sony-Ericsson I saw (from a friend) end of last year still had some special charger, nothing uniform.
Of course it would be nice to be able to avoid having *many* of those, but
a) I’d love to have 2 chargers anyway, one for home, one for my bag/office/whatever
b) there need to be some years of transition phase, I don’t see “everyone should have one of those already” happening *at all*
I hadn’t hear about such chargers before either, but this is no reason not to make them opt-in (or at least opt-out). Why do you want to force the chargers upon people who already do have them?
Must say I strongly disagree… nothing irks me more when devices don’t come with what we need to use them. It makes me think the manufacturer is just being really, really cheap, not providing what we need to use the device. I’m all for using standardized cables, but I have tons of devices that use each type of cable, and they occasionally break as well. Providing me with a couple of cables for my new device is very important to me, I have no interest in throwing down more money after it. I bought a Moto Droid and I was so disappointed that it only came with a single USB cable and then a converter, so I couldn’t even leave the USB cable plugged into my computer and have a charger next to my bed at night. I ended up spending an extra $20 ordering a set of extra cables and adapters for my car, more power converters, etc… hopefully my next phone with have micro USB as well (although chances are USB3.0 will be on my next phone, no idea if the cables are forwards compatible), but I still want it to come with a couple of cables so I don’t need to buy more when I get that. Chances are pretty good at least a couple of the ones I bought will break, get lost, wear out, etc. I have no interest in having a shortage of cables for my devices.
Would be annoying to not come with a charger, however perhaps they should have it so you can *not* have it and get a slight reduction(making clear it’s an eco option).
Also, they could also offer an alternate charger with maybe 4 usb slots on it.
WTF are you talking about? I thought one of the most awesome things about the nexus one is that you *don’t* have to buy yet another power supply:
http://concentriclivers.com/nexus-adapter.png
And yes it does work, and it has been an option since the beginning.
The way I understand it you always get the US charger. The UK charger is optional when you order it from the UK
Ah ok. You’re right; they really shouldn’t do that.