Why does every electronic device come with its own proprietary USB cable? USB stands for Universal Serial Bus — “Universal” being the key word. And yet my phone, camera, Palm, and every other device each needs a different cable.
I understand that device manufacturers want to sell accessories. But if we made the interface truly standard — say, mini-USB for all devices — you’d only need one cable for everything. You’d lose the cable, and you could buy a replacement at any drugstore for $3.
Instead I have a drawer full of cables, each one unique, each one potentially the one I need right now, each one indistinguishable from the others until I plug it in and find out it’s the wrong one.
[Note, 2026: It happened eventually. USB-C is now essentially universal. It took about 20 years.]