As I said somewhere else, I am not opposed to compliance regulation like this (nor government regulation in general - I'm a socialist), just that I feel that standardising on micro-USB would be a mistake, not to mention that this adds a layer of red tape to something that is likely to evolve more quickly than the EU can react to it (the USB spec is already becoming problematic in the area of high speed charging of ever bigger batteries, for example).

By all means, force a standard port, just not *that* one. Picking it just because it's the most common is "windows-itis" all over again, except this time mandated by law rather than just market force.

My preference would be for the EU, assuming you want a smack down, to mandate a modified Lightning connector (add an extra pin to make it electrically compatible with USB3 to make it a drop in replacement on Android devices) that is royalty free. That I could get behind.

Can someone explain how the parent comment can be moderated "troll"?

I assume that "troll" is not synonymous with "I disagree", but I might need some help here.

Yes, this is a new development. It's not Apple's first rodeo on this topic - the original ruling called for optional compliance, and didn't specify that the port had to be on the device itself, and that you could comply with it by making an adapter. This is exactly what Apple did.

It seems that Brussels felt that forcing micro-USB on the device was preferable to consumer choice. Such is life.

You already can charge an iPhone using one of these adapters *today* by using the converter that Apple makes (the iPhone is not fussy about what power charger it uses typically - I charge mine off a Kindle charger, for example).

This ruling is merely designed to say "that's not enough, we're going to force micro-USB onto the device".

No, no he isn't.

Let me quote it for you:

He's not addressing my argument directly, but simply calling me (and anyone else who uses a non-Android phone) a child for the sole reason of not having a "real phone". That is, he's using a logical fallacy.

Your analysis of my argument is also fallacious; my argument is that I have made a choice not to use micro-USB because I find it to be inferior (in the same way that he made a choice to use Android over iOS for other, equally valid reasons of his own), and that if regulation forces micro-USB to be the only choice, then I am being denied my ability to make that choice.

Also, I find it hilarious that you think I'm coming at this as some sort of hardcore libertarian. If you've seen any of my past 12 or so years on slashdot you'll know I'm a dyed-in-the-wool socialist. I am in favour of massive expansion of the welfare state and move increased government.

Still, cute that you made such a silly assumption. Keep trying. Also, you might want to remember to log in.

Well, I do drive a French car, so there is that. I'm practically a native.

What pins? You mean in the 30 pin dock connector?

I'm not sure if you're being serious or just seem to have a technical blind spot when it comes to Apple. The 30 pin connector was designed as a "universal" connector. When it's in its charging guise (the most common form) with a USB plug on the other end then only the USB power and data pins are wired. Back in the early days (gen 2 iPod) it could also be wired with a firewire 400 plug on the other end, so a different set of those pins were wired.

It also had audio line out (unbalanced) on another set, for devices like speaker docks or car radios, and composite video and S-video (for docks attached to things with television screens) among other things.

The point was that not all the pins would be wired all of the time, depending on the current device or cable you were using. It was designed at a time when things like MHL wren't common. Android phones do exactly what the Dock connector does, with a variety of different cables using software and a protocol to change the output of the pins (allowing you to pass things like HDMI over a USB port, for example). The dock connector simply did this the old fashioned way.

It doesn't follow that this somehow means that the phone "needs" to be connected to a computer, and "all those pins" are certainly not needed for charging - when it's charging it needs only the USB power pins (and the data ones if it wants to negotiate with the host controller for more than 500 mA of current, beyond the USB spec).

The Lightning cable, on the other hand, takes its design cues from what Android has done with the USB port - cutting down the number of pins, and simply switching what they do depending on the cable, although they obviously aren't doing it with the same protocols (MHL etc). The big difference is that they went with a more mechanically solid connector because they felt micro-USB was too fragile (it is), and were thus also freed from some of the other limitations of USB (current and voltage specifications), allowing for high-power charging in future.

Again, your ignorance and immaturity is showing - resorting to calling non-Android users children isn't helping your argument as much as you like to think. This has nothing to do with connecting to a computer (which the iPhone doesn't need to do), but demonstrating that in its current guise, the iPhone (and other iOS devices) can be pretty universally charged because they come with a charging cable that has a USB-A plug on one end that can be connected to pretty much any device that has a USB port (the only time I've seen this fail is connecting an iPad to a Wii - there wasn't enough current supplied so it wouldn't charge, but it would charge an iPhone just fine).

The iPhone is not picky when it comes to chargers, computer-sourced or otherwise. My Kindle charger works with it just fine, as does every other USB port I've ever plugged it into.

What phone do I have that needs to be cabled to a computer?

iOS 5 called and wants its tired meme back.

iOS devices have been "computer free" since iOS 6.

Sorry, I didn't mean to let facts get in the way of a good Apple bashing, carry on.

A cable that most EU users simply don't need, since they just use the cable that comes with the device and attach it to any number of standard USB ports.

However, the adapter does exist if you really must use your micro-USB charger with your iPhone, assuming that you don;t have access to a normal USB port anywhere else.

And I for one am glad that there is one holdout, because I simply will not use a phone with a micro-USB connector.

I could get behind a standard connector, as long as it was a good one.

Pity, since this means they'll be forced to use micro-USB, which is garbage.

Guess I'll be importing a phone with a decent connector if this passes.

Ok, I just did and it works.

What next?

I could try it with a 4S if you like. I have one around here somewhere. I can't test it with a 5 or above though - I don't own one.

That's one of the reasons Apple changed to Lightning - they were dumping the dock connector anyway (30 pins, some of which were for firewire which has been unsupported on iDevices for many years), and they wanted a mechanically superior connector - micro-USB was not the answer. It is much too fragile for what they wanted.

Other than the fact that it is proprietary, the Lightning design is much better than micro-USB on that front.

Right, so the parallax effect (that is able to be turned off) wasn't present, the slide transitions are the same, yet now causing issues.

The two new vomit inducing features seem to be screen zoom (which changed from centre-only whole screen to one side or the other on a per-icon basis), and the 'jostling' speech bubbles in iMessage.

You can quote the article, but it doesn't make it any more true.

Either way I'm sure Apple will address this with an "ultra flat mode" in an update that disables all the effects - they have already had complaints from non-vomiting people that the zoom animations take too long before the UI becomes responsive to commands. I expect they'll change the behaviour when they address that.

The zooming and sliding that hasn't been a problem in iOS up until this point, aye.

Suddenly it's causing nausea for some reason.