What seems like such a logical product feature is finally coming to pass thanks to, gulp, the Europeans… If you have owned more than one mobile phone, chances are you have more than one mobile phone charger. There is even a good chance that those phone chargers are not interchangeable leading to a huge black hole of old cell phone chargers in landfills. One estimate I read was that 1.2 billion cell phones are sold each year, each with its own charger. This seems a bit high, but maybe not that far off the mark.
The major cell phone companies have all voluntarily agreed to standardize on the micro USB port for cell phone charging. This includes the Apple iPhone which might also translate into standardization of the microUSB for iPods in the near future. Forget the cable to synchronize your PDA while on the road, no worries, just ask one of your collegues who has a PDA – even if it is a different brand.
I got fed up with all of the different chargers that I purchased one of those universal power adapters that will power my laptop, iPod and phones by purchasing separate “tips”. This was fantastic when I was routinely carrying four or five different phones for demonstrations. Even phones made by the same manufacturer used different power tips. I have five different power tips for Motorola phones alone! Every time I would upgrade my phone, I would receive a new charger – even on the off chance that the phone I was upgrading used the same charger as one of my old phone.
One estimate is that this agreement could reduce by half the number of chargers produced each year and save nearly 50,000 tons of charger trash from reaching our landfills. (I wonder what the half-life of a phone charger is anyway…) Having one power adapter for multiple devices will not only reduce the waste, but also reduce the clutter in my briefcase or bags when I travel. Not having to spend an additional $25 each time I upgrade my phone for a new car charger is also a bonus. (OK, I never paid that much, but that is what the carriers sell them for in the store.)
Who stands to gain from this switch? In short, just about everyone. Less junk in landfills and no unneeded production costs. Even the folks that make these chargers will likley continue to make them for the cell phone manufacturers. Carriers will likely sell more replacment chargers than they currently do. Since replacement chargers are not subject to subsidies, they actually stand to make MORE money from this switch. I doubt if the handset manufactuers will lower their prices so this will help them as they can charge the same amount without the cost of buying, packaging and shipping the chargers. The biggest winner of all, however, will be Mother Earth who no longer has to ingest old cell phone chargers.
Tags: apple, blackberry, iphone, micro USB, pda, power adapter
