Governments telling manufacturers what to do and forcing it upon them? I hope Apple stops selling iPhones / iPads in Europe. This is getting absurd as Apple has already created a lightning to micro USB adapter to comply with a law passed a few years ago. I mean, how do a bunch of bureaucrats even come up with this sh*t. Are they designers? Im sure there are much other matters at hand like their troubling economy.

This isn't the first time the European Union has sought to impose a charger standard on manufactures. In 2009, the Commission reached a voluntary agreement with 10 mobile phone manufacturers to adopt the micro-USB charge and sync interface as the industry standard. Apple signed the agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, but has not replaced its 30-pin or 8-pin chargers.

Thursday's vote means this formerly voluntary agreement is no longer voluntary. For Apple, with proprietary chargers that factor into the optimization of the iPhone design, this law raises some troubling concerns. Apple already sells iPhone micro-USB adaptors, and perhaps it could start including them with new iPhones as a workaround.

via TUAW