you always have to manage a million different cables for each one, and they all suck. why can’t we just use AAA batteries instead of these shitty lithium ones? it’s so fucking frustrating. where can I find gadgets that work while plugged in, or at least don’t need to be recharged every two fucking days?
USB-C is an interface that can be used for a variety of different things. There are different “levels” of power delivery, there’s thunderbolt, there’s DisplayPort-over-USB-C, etc. And for things to work, the devices on both ends of the cable and the cable itself must comply with any given standard.
For example, on some laptops you can’t use a USB-C port with thunderbolt for charging the device, nor the port that supports power delivery to connect thunderbolt devices. While using the same physical interface, the ports are not interchangeable. Even if you’re connecting everything right, nothing is going to work if the cable you’re using isn’t specced properly (and trying to figure out the spec of a cable you have, considering they rarely have any labeling, is, definitely, fun).
If anything, USB-C makes everything harder and more convoluted, because instead of using different ports and plugs for different standards, it’s now one port for nigh everything under the sun. If you want things to work, nowadays, you have to hunt down cable and port specs to ensure everything is mutually compatible.
No one is using DisplayPort with an electric toothbrush. You’re confusing the issues solved by the EU legislation.
Even looking at power delivery alone, there’s still different voltages and wattage, as well as cable specs. Nothing really changes. You still end up having different cables for different devices, essentially.
I haven’t run into a USB-PD charger that doesn’t fall back to 5V/2A if it can’t negotiate power delivery. As long as you buy a 45/65/100W PD brick and a supporting cable (both are cheap and getting cheaper) you don’t really have to worry about what you might be charging.
Even 20-25W phone chargers and cables will generally slow-charge most laptops in a pinch.