I ran across this article from a few months ago talking about an agreement for a standard cell phone charger for all phones. In my mind, this is something that makes sense. Surely phones can be engineered to a common standard.

Having just returned from a vacation where I couldn't charge my cell phone because I neglected to bring the car charger, and I couldn't plug in to my laptop, too! My friend had a Blackberry and offered his charger; of course, this wasn't compatible. Another friend hand an iPhone, strike two! Finally I looked to my last friend. He has an old Motorola flip phone; doesn't work with my Samsung, strike three, I'm out of luck.

There are many potential benefits to industry coming together with this standard. Reduced clutter and waste are the first to come to mind. The ability to reuse your charger. Lower cost of the charger. Probably a lot more that I'm not thinking of right now. Let's hope that we in America are able to benefit from this soon!