Re: Diversity - good or bad ?

On Fri, 10 Jan 2025 21:17:50 -0000 (UTC), Lars Poulsen wrote:

The multiple connector types have been very counterproductive. The
Chinese government brought some standardization by requiring micro-USB
connectors, but Apple soon found a way around it and introduced
"Lightning" connectors just to be different. Round two switched everyone
to USB-C (again initiated by China - or was it EU). To my eyes, USB-C is
not "flatter" than Micro-USB, but it does have the advantage of being
symmetrical.

I've got a wall full of cables to attest to that foolishness. There is the
Mini-B for the Garmin GPS and an older Kindle, the Standard B for the
legacy Arduinos, the Micro-B for the phone, newer Kindle, and the Pico
boards, and the USB-C for the Fire tablet, airbrush, and other stuff.

Or the way car radios were standardized, so you could buy a new,
high-end AM/FM/CD radio to spice up your 10-year old car.

That was a relatively brief period when manufacturers mostly used DIN
sizing and dash kits were available. Prior to that a hacksaw and sheet
metal skills helped but at least a radio was just a radio or sometimes an
incorporated cassette or CD player.

Since I work on my own vehicles my pet peeve is oil filters. My Toyota has
a Toyota engine; the sedans of the same year were Mazda 2s and have Mazda
engines. Physically the filters are the same size but they do not
interchange.

I haven't bought a new bike in years but Shimano was a master at
obsolescence. The tools to remove the bottom bracket or freewheel always
were just enough different, maybe one spline more or less, that they
wouldn't fit.