Meryl Streep

A new European regulation could make USB-C the standard cable we use for pretty much everything.

And USB-C is designed to change with the times — even though USB-C ports will get more powerful over time, your older USB-C devices will still have a place to plug in. [ferrying data and power in opposite ways simultaneously](https://www.benq.com/en-sg/knowledge-center/knowledge/why-you-need-a-usbc-monitor.html) — the monitor (plugged into a wall socket) is charging the laptop, while the laptop is sending images to the screen. Here are some [tips](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014925288-How-to-submit-a-letter-to-the-editor). It’s hard to fault manufacturers for cycling through these varieties: As our devices got more powerful and their shapes changed, the cables had to change, too. Then came component video (similar braids with various colors), S-video (round plug, many holes) and eventually HDMI, the trapezoidal plug found on most TVs today. The USB standard was introduced in 1996 as a way to create compatibility among devices, but it’s striking how many varieties of USB there have been in the years since — each new one undermining the goal of standardization. It was designed to plug in to more or less everything to accomplish more or less anything, thereby cutting down on the number and variety of cables one needs to navigate digital life. When I was a kid you connected a TV to a VCR or Nintendo using RCA cables (a braid of two or three colored round plugs). On Monday, in an effort to reduce electronic waste, the European Union’s member states [approved](https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/24/tech/eu-law-charging-standard/index.html) a rule requiring USB-C charging ports on “all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, hand-held video game consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds and laptops” sold in the E.U. [technical challenges](https://hackaday.com/2020/06/23/usb-c-is-taking-over-when-exactly/), and it has had to achieve a certain critical mass across the device ecosystem. Because a majority of my devices now use this single connector, I’ve lately found myself traveling with far fewer chargers, cables and dongles (the terrible name for the numerous adapters and other tiny devices that plug into our computers). This is far superior to HDMI, the video cable I might have used before USB-C — HDMI cannot carry enough power to charge a laptop, meaning I’d have to use it in addition to a laptop charger.