Why Can't There Be a Standard Power Cord for Laptops?

Dell's IdeaStorm web site:

Anyone who has had to do a lot of road work, or anyone who has even had to ferry their work notebook between home and office every night, can probably empathize with this sentiment. Having a million different kinds of cords for a million different laptops also means extra inventory or replacement-ordering work for resellers, too. But Dell has its reasons.

James Gray, who works at Dell, responds:

"Dawn from Dell" wrote:

Ok. Fine. Design power cords to be unique and cost-effective. But how about ruggedizing them to make them last longer?