It's Not Just a Good Idea, It's the Law

Back in December I mentioned that South Korea and China were seriously looking into universal charging and data ports on all mobile phones sold in those countries. The objective: to reduce waste and keep costs down.

I'm pleased to report that the law has gone into effect in China. Not only that, they've gone ahead with their earlier plan to standardize on USB adaptors -- meaning phones can be charged from a computer or any other device that delivers power over a USB connection.

As in other industries, this could potentially ripple outward to all cell phone manufacturers worldwide. Manufacturers would kick and scream at first (they already have), but it would be hard for them to argue with the bottom line: It's estimated that if every new adaptor costs 7–8 yuan, then the savings for the Chinese market alone would amount to about 2.4 billion yuan ($300 million).

I'm assuming, though, that this figure was derived is with the expectation that an adaptor will always be included with each new phone -- a one-to-one replacement. If they want to be truly progressive about this, then adaptors would be considered optional accessories for new phones, encouraging people to use the adaptor that came with the phone they're replacing. Otherwise, we'd find ourselves with drawers full of unused adaptors in a few years -- and that wouldn't be helping anyone.

[Thanks, edublogs.]