

It was poorly implemented. USB-C isn’t even the best physical design of cable (and data transmission rates don’t mean anything to the vast majority of people). It generated a whole bunch of ewaste when it rolled out which was silly and avoidable had it been properly worded and thought through. There were also far, far, more impactful things the EU could have been using that effort for.


We essentially already jad a de facto universal charging standard in USB-A. Whether the end that plugged into the device with USB-C, lightning, micro-USB, mini-USB they all had the venerable USB-A connector at the other end. So regardless of what device you were charging you could hook it into any old USB-A charger and be on your way.
Then “everything must be USB-C” gets half-arsed into being. Suddenly anyone who hadn’t already stopped packing chargers with their devices used the “reduce ewaste!” rhetoric of the ruling to justify only supplying a cable. Greenwashing but OK. Problem was then Apple and everyone else immediately jumped to packing USB-C to USB-C cables. Now there’s a bunch of USB-A chargers needlessy defunct and a lot of people had to actually but more chargers so they had something that worked with a C to C cable. Or but an A to C cable but still waste that was utterly needless and entirely predictable.