A Regulation Everyone Can Agree On

I got a new camera in the mail yesterday. We had to replace a stolen one. My wife is a new teacher and she learned the lesson of every new teacher - as homey as that classroom starts to feel, it isn't yours. Leave stuff out, and it will walk.

(I also wish camera thieves would at least do us the courtesy of leaving behind the memory card, those pictures were important)

As much as I like the specs and price of my new camera, I am tempted to return it. Included in the packaging was a funky little proprietary recharging cable.

Ughhhhh! Not another one....

I love gadgets, and I have a lot of them. I also pride myself on how well I haggle out a good deal. However, I think I have come to the conclusion that no good deal is worth it on a piece of tech that uses a proprietary charging cable.

My phone uses mini-usb. My mp3 player and my GPS also use mini-usb. I love that I have only one charging cable in my car.

I think the United States should just have a standard on charging cables the way we do on electrical outlets. At the very least, have the packaging list the connector type. If it isn't mini-usb, from now on, I am steering clear.