Congratulations. I'm very happy for you.

I made the choice to buy those expensive Samsung chargers, and I would have to take that in to consideration if I chose to buy an HTC. It's my choice, and my problem.

You think that government isn't behind the US system? Everything that the communications companies do is constrained by government rules and regulations. The fact that those rules and regulations are ill-advised is the fault of the government, not the companies.

I don't know. Why do we need anti-monopoly laws? Do you think that those monopolies could have been created without the government making the rules that allowed it? Government is behind all of it; government directed not by villains but by well-intentioned individuals created all of this mess.

You didn't read what I wrote. If Apple, Samsun, Sony, HTC, Motorola and Nokia all used proprietary connectors, I would buy whichever of them I preferred and not worry about it. Opinions differ. Government is always the very worst answer to any problem. Always. Most of the problems that we have are the result of government trying to solve problems. Which always creates new problems. And rather than go back and tweak their original "solution" they pass new laws and regulations to ameliorate the damage that their original actions caused. Fortunately, not everything else works that way.

I have no problem with proprietary. There are advantages as well as disadvantages. If you prefer not to use proprietary, then buy only products which don't use proprietary. If there are enough people who want to do that, there will be vendors aplenty to sell you products. If not, then you're in a minority too small to be worth anyone's business. Did you prefer BluRay or HD-DVD? Don't depend on other people to solve your problems for you, and in particular don't count on Government to force everyone to do what you think they should. If enough people like a solution, there will be no reason for government to impose it, and if they don't then it is unconscionable for government to impose it. Pretty simple, really.

The government should not "protect large companies from consumers' best interests", but it should allow the market to determine standards. If you don't like a product because it doesn't work with what your other products, don't buy it. Pretty simple, really. If people don't buy a manufacturers products the manufacturer will either adapt or go out of business. If enough people buy his products to keep him in business, it's no concern of yours or anyone else what either he or his customers do.

Perhaps we should all standardize on Windows, then. Wouldn't that make things a lot simpler?

Let's standardize all of the electrical outlets first. Which one should we choose?? http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

I don't remember it being so bad. Not at all. What did you think was bad about it? If you were personally affected, how did that affect anyone else?

Actually, the left in any country is the equivalent of the creationists. They believe in totally contrary-to-fact principles because they want to believe them, and they expect everyone else to act in accordance with those principles regardless of what they believe. Absolute nonsense. It's really very simple to determine what someone is worth: anyone is worth exactly what someone else is willing to give them either in exchange for their goods and services or simply because they want to give them something for reasons of their own. No one is entitled to anything more than that. Any other idea is simply wrong, and as ridiculous as creationism.

Voters aren't informed enough about anything. They can't be, and never will be. Voters will always make their choices based on irrelevant factors and misinformation. That's the way it is. No amount of education will ever change that.