There is a time and a place for standards and, honestly, mobile charging cables seem to be one of them, as most alternatives seem to be designed less for adding some new, spiffy capability as much as for adding margin to the mobile device manufacturer's cable division (yes, I'm looking at you, Apple and Samsung).
I'm a bit less sanguine about the micro-USB being the choice. I understand the reason for it — it probably encompasses 2/3 of the market, at a guess. But its not-quite-reversability is darned user-unfriendly. Maybe this wasn't an idea whose time had yet come.
The EU Has Voted in Favour of a Single Universal Mobile Charger
Here’s a rare occasion where it may serve us well to copy the Europeans: the European Union has voted overwhelmingly in favor of introducing a single, universal charger for all mobile phones sold across the continent.
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Of course, while the charger might have microUSB at one end, what will be at the other end?
https://www.europlugs.com/Design_Review_Polices/Plug_Adapter_Country_Chart.htm
+John E. Bredehoft Heh. Yeah, that particular mess will take a collapse of civilization to fix. Or moving to another planet.
Or perhaps Russia will invade all of Europe and impose a standard.
Nah. Russia doesn't have that "Soviet standard-imposing" impulse. They'd be more likely to further fracture standards based on who was willing to pay off the most officials.