What We Need Are Some Standards

I see from Stephen's Lighthouse that the UN has formally approved a standard form for cell phone chargers.

I can immediately think of occasions where this would have been useful to me. I forgot my charger, and even though everyone around me had a cell phone, no one had the same model I did, and hence I could not simply borrow someone else's cord when my battery ran low.

I'm so accustomed to this situation that it didn't even really occur to me to complain about it (a startling event in itself, given my fondness for complaining), but on reflection it's pretty silly. Imagine if the outlets in houses were all different, so you could only plug in your phone in certain models of electrical systems. If you moved, you'd have to get a new phone. That would suck, huh?

Happily, we have standardized electrical outlets (within countries, at least; there may still be issues if you try to take your regional-standard plugs abroad), so you can at least count on one end of your charger fitting wherever you might be. We like this.

I for one applaud the march of uniformity in this matter. One day, maybe I can go on a trip and forget my cell charger, yet still be confident of being able to borrow one from someone else.

Perhaps laptop chargers will one day follow?


P.S. I spent more time debating the title of this post than actually writing it. Is it grammatically correct? Is "what we need" (singular, would take "is") or "standards" (plural, would take "are") the important thing here? The internet does not immediately offer an uncontested answer. Shocking!

I'm following this pronouncement on nominal relative clauses, which isn't even specifically about my question, but references it in passing and sounds really authoritative, but I could see the other side as well.

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