There's simply more people with the opposite problem, especially in markets where Apple is less prevalent, which is most of them around the world. When there's more than one type of cable, plenty of people are going to be inconvenienced when one is chosen as the cable to rule them all, but in the end everyone wins, it's just annoying to get there.
> plenty of people are going to be inconvenienced when one is chosen as the cable to rule them all, but in the end everyone wins
That's not everyone wins. The people that actually bought these devices now have cables that don't work and need to replace with a lower quality product, and the people who were already using something else are continuing to not need cables for these devices. The majority breaks even, a significant minority loses.
Simply not choosing one cable to rule them all lets everyone win. There is no compelling reason for one size to fit all.
It's a temporary drawback; everyone wins in the long term because there's only one standard.
Again, that's not a win for anybody. No one winds up in a better position than where they started, there is no payback in exchange for the temporary drawback, which also isn't temporary if the final standard is inferior.
If some people like hip hop but more people like country, it's not a win for everybody to eliminate the hip hop radio stations so we can all listen to a single country station.
This is closer to having a common railway gauge, though.
Not at all. A common railway gauge is necessary for different parts of the rail network to be joined together. If one section of the network has a different gauge, it is cut off and can not be joined without being completely replaced, leaving you with two less capable rail networks. Everyone does benefit from a more capable rail network.
Further, rail gauge is not a consumer choice. If there were two rail gauges and your local rail station happened to have a different gauge than your destination, you'd be SOL. A different rail gauge may provide benefits for people with specific needs, but you don't get to take advantage of those benefits except by blind luck.
There is no such benefit from standardizing cable connectors. If someone charges their phone with the same style cable as you, you gain nothing. If someone uses a different cable, you lose nothing. There is no reason for anyone not to use their preferred cable which is optimal for their use case.
Everyone, but the environment wins. Once I upgrade my phone and Airpods, I will have to throw out my pack of perfectly working lightning cables.
I'm sure there are more than a few people that would end up throwing out their perfectly functional accessories, only for the convenience of carrying less cables.
Why don’t you donate them to a thrift store or educational charity? Are there no non-profits who refurbish and reuse electronics in your community?
I don't want to burn fuel trying to find a place to accept used 5 year old Airpod Pros with yellow earbud plastic.
I don't want to ship another cable across the Pacific Ocean from China so I can have a cable that works on my devices.
I want to keep using them until they don't work and I can't repair them any more.