China was said to be trying to reduce waste when it passed a rule five years ago that all mobile devices must be charged by a common USB interface.

China, through YD/T 1591-2006 “Technical Requirements and Test Method of Charger and Interface for Mobile Telecommunication Terminal Equipment,” created a requirement that cell phones must be charged from a USB charger.

[…]

To converge all the external connection functionality onto a single USB interface, several problems need to be solved, including routing audio over the same interface as data, detecting what external accessories are connected, maintaining high performance for all devices, and keeping power low.

Europe followed in 2009. Now, despite Apple’s best efforts to deploy annoyingly proprietary interfaces, ComputerWorld says the US will follow the Chinese USB rule.

By January 2012, all U.S. cell phones will have a common micro-USB interface that will allow universal external power chargers to use the port, CTIA Chairman Dan Hesse announced at a keynote at CTIA here today.

The variety of charging ports used in cell phones and smartphones today has irritated American users for years, especially as Europe moved forward on a common micro USB interface for data devices.

Oh, that’s funny, ComputerWorld does not mention the Chinese at all.

I agree with their assessment of American irritation. One of the reasons I dumped every electronic device I owned with iPhone/iPod interface a couple years ago was because I moved to a USB-only rule at home and at work. I have been surprised to find hotel rooms and gyms with electronics that have Apple proprietary interfaces. It’s like seeing a treadmill with a Betamax slot.

Bottom line is that availability of power will go up while waste goes down with a rule like this. There are compromises in features and maybe even functionality, but availability improvements and waste reduction seem worth it to me.