How Many Different USB Cables Do You Own

[Prang]

Why cant they make 1 standard USB cable?

In our house with 3 of us we have my Pentax , my wife's Canon point and shoot, 3 different mobile phones and card readers all with there own USB Cables, none of which seem to work with each other!!

They even look the same ,same size and everything which makes it a guessing game to pick the right one.

Anyone else find the same?Maybe we can start a action group?

The only consultation is when it comes to Battery Chargers it,s worse.

Thanks for listening Prang

[bigbikes]

I agree totally with you. I dont know how many there are in my house, but what I do know is that whenever you open a draw, you will always find a USB cable.
There are just to many to count. I also have 4 in my car, all phone charges for different phones as well

[old dog]

I have three that fit my D80. One that came with it, one from Julies canon P&S and another from a little photo keyring thingy she got for mums day. I`m happy.

[yummymummy]

I have one for the Canon, one for the fuji, one for the kids P&S, one for my mp3 player, and one for my sons mp3 player, one for the photo keyring that I got for christmas, one for my phone, one for hubbys phone, one for 1st sons and one for 2nd sons phone... I made little sticky labels and taped them to each of them with the name of the thing it goes with just so I dont get them mixed up!

[joffa]

I've always found that they were the same, just different lengths. As long as the plug fits in the device they all seem to work with each other. Must be just lucky I guess?

[etherial]

Many phone manufacturers have got together and there will be a common system for charging coming out which uses a micro usb cable, so I guess thats a start towards some kind of standardization.

Extract from a news article on Cnet:
"The Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) -- a forum dominated by networks but including manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG -- announced that its members had agreed on micro-USB as the future common connector."

[Kym]

There are 6 USB connector types...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Types_of_USB_connector

But phone companies also do their own non standard ones at the phone end.

[Tannin]

Many phone manufacturers have got together and there will be a common system

As I understand it, they did this after the European Commission banged their heads together and said "we have had enough of this selfish, greedy mania for making customers spend extra money and waste precious resources to buy a zillion different, incompatible chargers at inflated can't-buy-it-from-the-competition prices. Sort it out between yourselves or we will make you feel sorry you didn't".