Cell Phone Chargers

I learned something new today. My old cell phone wouldn’t charge so I was forced to get a new one (about the same price as buying a new battery for a discontinued product). I was asking if my old charger would work on the new phone and was told that it wouldn’t because it wasn’t one of the 2 styles that phones have to be now. Apparently, the two kinds are meant to standardize the industry and avoid e-waste. Did you guys know that?

I’ve heard that they were going to standardize chargers, but I didn’t realize that they already did so. I have an iPhone, so it has its own charger. (My old iPod chargers work with it, so it works well for me!)

I think this is a great idea though. Apple products aside, I’ve never been able to reuse a charger for a new phone before.

I did know that, but the benefit doesn’t seem to have filtered through to my family yet. It is a very good thing.

It is a good step forward, I had heard some publicity about this a while ago.

I hadn’t heard this, no… but considering I’ll soon be facing having to replace a cell phone, I’m glad I saw this now. I was assuming I’d just be able to use the same charger.

My son lost his charger yesterday, his phone was only bought last Christmas but it has proved impossible to get a charger locally so we had to order it online. The new rules are an excellent development.

Yeah, it was definitely news to me, but I considered it welcome news. We need more standardization in the cell phone industry in my opinion.

Yes we could do with more standardisation, phone batteries, lap top chargers, the list is endless.

It’s such a waste. It’s long been a pet peeve of mine so I am glad to see some progress done.

Yes it is nice to see some progress, there are many other similar cases that could considerably reduce waste if there were standard fittings.

It is such a waste. I always get annoyed to find out that a new battery costs more than a new phone! That is what happened to me last time, they had actually discontinued the battery I needed, so then I had to buy a new phone.

I just went through that. The phone is fine, but it needed a new battery. It was going to be about $38, a buck 95 less than the equal type of phone. Just ridiculous.

It seems that all electronics are like that these days. It does seem so wasteful. I always cringe when I think how many such items are thrown into our landfills everyday.

It is wasteful. I work for an electronics recycling company and I see all the stuff brought in! It makes me sad to know that even more stuff ends up in landfills, either here or in developing countries, because it isn’t recycled responsibly.

yes, my Kindle charger can also charge my ipod and my blackberry… it doesn’t charge my camera, but the next one I buy will do…