HTC and O2 will sell a new “flagship” smartphone without a charger in the near future. A Micro USB to USB cable will still be included with the handset, but the mains charger will be removed. O2 says it’s making the change to avoid adding to the population of 100 million chargers that go unused by consumers in the UK. According to additional data from the carrier, 70 percent of the 30 million customers that buy new phones each year already have the relevant charger for their handset.
Useless. Saving money on packaging and parts is all well & good but you know damn well the customer will see none of that saving.
The argument for a standard cable was to make life easier for people, yet across these phone manufacturers’ lines we have several different cables and now some without plugs. A first-time phone buying teenager is screwed.
People bemoaned the Apple switch to a new cable, but Apple justified it in a press conference – explaining why they’re moving. It also constitutes the single only change in their cable designs on iDevices ever, including the iPod, iPad and iPhone range.
Basically, what I’m saying is that HTC and O2 are taking the piss out of consumers.
(via theverge)
