A Universal Cell Phone Charger - Finally!

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Don't get to excited. It's not expected to hit the market until January 1, 2012. But, the GSMA Mobile World Congress (This is like the UN for the mobile device industry) met in Spain recently and agreed to commit along with 17 of the major worldwide mobile operators to a standardized universal charger for mobile devices.

It's about %^&*& time!

On the one hand, this is great news; long overdue, in fact. That's the part that makes me scratch my head.

The first commercial cell phones hit the market 26 years ago... and we're still three more years away from a universal charger.

Let's put this in perspective.

In 1961, President Kennedy pledged the United States would put a man on the moon. In 1969, eight years later, it happened.

If we can go from political hot air to shagging golf balls on the moon in eight years, why does the cell phone industry need 29 years to come up with a unversal charger?

With that in mind;

- How many more years must we wait for a version of Windows that starts up within seconds and not minutes?

- How many more years must we wait for voice recognition software that is cheap and works well?

- How many more years must we wait for software companies to release their products "bug-free"?

- How many more years must we wait for pop-up screens that are written in layman's terms?

The answers, my friend, are blowing in the wind.

Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio