I was prompted to compose this post in response to numerous criticisms I've read on Amazon's decision to not include a charger with the purchase of their new Kindle Fire HD 7". Most of the arguments go something like "at this price, I'd expect the charger to be included!" Obviously Amazon chose not to include a charger so that they could offer the Kindle Fire HD for less than $200. I for one would like to commend Amazon for this choice. Most of the readers of this site probably already have multiple micro USB chargers for other devices, perhaps even extra chargers from devices that are no longer used. Hopefully your charger is ENERGY STAR certified. Lowering the price and allowing customers to use an existing charger can help keep electronics from unnecessarily entering landfills. I would like to see other manufacturers follow suit and allow us to purchase our new phones and other personal electronics without a new charger. I would go even further than Amazon did and make the micro USB data cable optional as well, I already have a drawer full of these.

There has been a lot of progress on the issue of planned obsolescence related to personal electronics. Most cellphone manufacturers have adopted the micro USB Universal Charging Solution (UCS) as a standard for charging and data connection. The standard has been supported and endorsed by numerous telecommunications groups including the International Telecommunications Union. While Apple initially supported the UCS it has continued to be a holdout. They might have initially been able to suggest that there were too many accessories that used the proprietary connector that would be made obsolete by a change over to the UCS. With the introduction of the iPhone 5, Apple has invalidated that excuse because they have replaced the proprietary 30-pin connector with a new proprietary 9-pin connector.

While I support a company's right to make a profit, I cannot support the unwarranted creation of unnecessary eWaste just to pad the corporate bottom line. I encourage Amazon and all other manufacturers of personal electronic devices to adopt a policy of standardizing on the UCS. Leave the charger and micro USB cable out of the package, but offer them easily at checkout and at a price comparable to what they would cost if they were originally included. For those of you complaining about the "missing charger". Stop it, it's a good thing. Whatever Amazon's original reason for leaving the charger out of the box, kudos. Let's see more of this.