I remember it used to be that every cellphone company had their own different standard. One for Nokia, etc.
Now there are just 2/3. USB C, micro usb And lightning.
What prompted the change?
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Originally they were just charging cables.
Then they were required to carry small amounts of data when the need to backup phones came about with the addition of emails on phones, cameras/photos on phones etc. This resulted in phone companies making their own cables, but with usb on one end for connecting to computers.
As phones became more like computers, and things like digital cameras became more mainstream with mini and micro USB, it made more sense for these kinds cables to be used with phones to reduce costs. Both of the cables themselves and of the drivers etc.
The majority of phone manufacturers (and Microsoft Phone / Android operating systems) went this way, adopting newer and faster USB standards, as phone size and data transfer speeds developed.
Apple went their own way with proprietary cables and connectors. Sometimes ahead, and sometimes behind USB in terms of data speeds, security, convenience etc. Apple were also able to charge more for these cables as they held the exclusive patent rights (profit!) and license the design out to third parties to make stereos, docks, alarm clocks etc (profit!) that supported Apple iphones etc. All of which justified them having their own bespoke design.
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