Comment by scoofy
3 years ago
Seriously. I will not take anyone seriously about how "Apple just cared about a better standard" when they literally don't allow it to be made a standard.
It's just a connector. If you're not letting everyone use it, it's not about it being better... it's about rent-seeking. Which is exactly what the EU legislation seeks to end.
Not to shill for a trillion dollar megacorp, but when you've got lightning and the competition has USB mini, how exactly is that rent seeking? You've developed an objectively better product, don't you deserve something for it?
Because it's required to use the product, right? Like, if you have a phone, and you can buy a lightning version or a quarter-inch audio version, sure, yes let the free market win. Nope... they removed the audio jack (against large public outcry).
This isn't about lightning being better, because we were never offered a choice. Lightning being the only option when there is a clear market for alternatives is the obvious tell for rent seeking.
It was in fact much better for several years, and it probably inspired USB-C. At some point it wasn't, and they kept making excuses to keep it anyway. I don't agree with the EU law btw, just saying Apple wasn't keeping Lightning for actual usability reasons in the end.