Background: The European Union has announced plans to make USB-C connectors the standard charging port for all smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices.

What happened: The EU hopes that by doing this, they'll reduce environmental waste. The new legislation is set to come into effect from 2024.

What else: The move could spell bad news for Apple, who've always relied on their own 'proprietary' ports. Ya know, the ones that have you running to the Apple store every time you lose yours...cos the ones in your drawer aren't compatible.

So what's the key learning?

💡Proprietary technology is anything that a company invents, and only uses on their own products. And Apple has benefited off its proprietary charging cords and headphones all the way from the iPod classic...to the latest iPhone 13.

💡By continuously changing its proprietary tech, Apple has controlled the purchases of its tech accessories. And it's been hugely lucrative for them. There were:

• super wide chargers that fit our iPod nanos back in the day.
• lightning connector for the newer iPhones.
• special headphone jacks...so it was bye-bye standard headphones.

💡Apple's wearables, home and accessories division brought in a whopping US$30.6 billion last year alone. So we can't see them being impressed by the EU's plans.