One Plug to Rule Them All

Okay, I take back everything mean I've ever said or thought about the EU. All is forgiven, since they appear to be strong-arming cellphone manufacturers into adopting a single power plug standard. Hooray for standards! Viva el EU!

The European Commission announced today that 10 mobile phone producers, which represent some 90 percent of the mobile phone market in the European Union, have signed a voluntary agreement to use standardized chargers for mobile phones using a micro-USB connector. [...] The standard will use USB for charging, and use a micro-USB connector on the phone itself, so ideally any charger could be used with any phone. "On principle, you would never have to buy a new charger again," Verheugen remarked.