I wouldn't assume they are right about that...

If you get a half decent USB cable it will have thicker wire. They aren't expensive either.

I have a precision low ohm meter, I check cables I buy.

Eh, nobody wants a chunky cable and connector to handle 240W (maximum USB C can supply), and these days it is certainly not cheaper that a buck regulator.

Copper isn't cheap and the conversion losses are going to be less than the losses to heat from lower voltages. The industry has responded with very high efficiency 50V capable converters.

Another advantage of USB PD is that with the PPS mode the device can be even smaller, featuring a lower power charger for non-PPS supplies, and using the PPS mode when available for higher power charging. None of these phones that charge at 50W+ have a 50W variable mode buck regulator in them.

The cabling situation isn't ideal. Hopefully it will improve. At least you can be fairly sure that most things will charge with any random cable though, just maybe not as fast as you would like. I use it to reduce the number of chargers I need to take with me on tips. I just bring one for the laptop, and plug everything else into its USB ports. If I need a quick charge I can plug that one charger directly into a device, but I mostly just do everything overnight.

I seem to recall that Technology Connections did a video about them for Americans. They are handy and safe, although the limited power output of US outlets does limit them a little. 230V FTW.

There is at least one trifold on the market already... Xiaomi maybe, one of the Chinese brands.

Anyway, it sounds good in theory, you can have a nice big display but still fit it in your pocket. The main issue is that it's not got screens on both sides when folded, and they are the soft foldable type that can be scratched with your fingernail. Unless they do them all folding inwards, but then it gets even thicker and they will want another outer screen as well.

But then you get savaged for not freshly grinding your own beans.

Maybe it's different in the US, but in Europe the most common way of heating water to boiling point is with an electric kettle.

Crappy instant coffee is crappy, but there are some good ones out there.

It was done by a professional lab, not a journalist, so I'm going to assume they at least cleaned the mould out.

Often P2P apps are effectively blocked simply by CGNAT.

There are lots of USB C chargers that have a detachable mains cable. Anker make a few models, but there are lots of others. They tend to be in the higher power ranges.

It's great being able to travel with only one small charger now.

Eventually it will, not for a very long time. But when that happens, so what? The EU will have prevented massive amounts of e-waste being generated in the meantime. I'd rather deal with two standards than 20.

Even though the UK stupidly left the EU, we will benefit from this because nobody will bother making worse products for our market.

I look forward to everything being powered from USB C, with my own choice of cable length and jack (right angle in either direction, or straight), and the ability to replace them if I damage them.

And the US isn't? Trump has been talking about taking Greenland and the Panama Canal, and making Canada another state. He renamed the DoD the Department of War.

Trump is ordering political prosecutions, subverting the legal system, and ruling by diktat rather than consensus.

At this point the US looks like much more of a threat to democracy than China does.

Dystopian is the word I'd use. They are working towards a future where you can live in a small box, wearing a VR headset.

The problem is that the ISPs have demonstrated that they can block it if they want to. Some don't allow P2P apps, most block outgoing email. Legally that makes it a choice to not block file sharing, which then forces them to defend that choice. The old "Linux ISOs" argument probably isn't going to help them there.

He wasn't all that innovative either. As Jobs himself said, "good artists copy, great artists steal". Most of the stuff he did existed before he did it, he just made it shiny and hyped it up.