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Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

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Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#341

Post by melchebo »

staticvar wrote: post #296
x0x0 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And in a nutshell, that's why people buy stuff from apple. imo, their brand is "here's a good thing, and we promise it will work". Amazon's is "you're on your own, but it's really fucking cheap!" That's not to say amazon doesn't have good customer service, but the whole thing is still shit. I just wanted a [cable|dongle|hdmi adapter|battery|plant spray|charger] that was what it claimed to be and worked correctly the…

Between 2008 and 2013 when I had an iPhone, their USB cables would regularly break down on me. The problem was the white casing around the wire would break down and start to thread. So I think the rule of Apple promising high quality is true a lot of the time, it baffles me that they sold that low quality cable for so long. Ever since I switched to decives that support Micro-USB, cheap cables have yet once to break.

Yeah, Apple uses rubber instead of plastics to wrap their cables. And it appears to have two problems. The common one with rubbers that they deteriorate by moisture. And it seems like the thickness of the layer is about as thin as the rubber's consistency allows. Meaning if you chip it in any way, the whole cable wrapper will slowly start to unravel.

I've now bought a couple of Nohon braided cables from Aliexpress and they seem to hold together nicely. But of course them being cheap Chinese cables they are finicky with iPhone 6+, but work fine with my 5s.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#342

Post by zyxley »

hackuser wrote: post #328

This is just one side of an ancient debate: If component A doesn't work with component B, where is the problem? The manufacturer of A blames B, and vice-versa. (The truth is that they are simply incompatible and often it's nobody's fault.) If many USB-C cables don't work with Google devices, where is the problem? It suits Google to say the problem is with the cables, but maybe creating pressure for better cables or s…

"Realistic" performance specs should include "doesn't have a chance of literally setting something on fire by drawing too much current through it".

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#343

Post by IshKebab »

x0x0 wrote: post #194
eloisant wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually this post explains why he's doing that: https://plus.google.com/+BensonLeung/posts/LH4PPgVrKVN It kind of makes sense: he worked on products that use USB-C (Pixel laptops), but if the market is littered with bad cables USB-C will have a bad image which will be bad for the products he worked on. So what he's doing is in the interest in his employer, and for the benefit of the products he worked on. He's not d…

If only there were some way for google to get high quality usb-c cables to customers! Like not charging $13 plus shipping for a 1m cable (a ridiculous profit margin), and keeping them in stock. Or hell, throwing 5 of them in with everything they sell that uses usb-c. I mean, that would have to cost dollars. Whole dollars , on a $500 phone! https://store.google.com/product/usb_type_c_to_usb_standard_...

Some USB C cables are actively marked. I.e. they have a chip in them that says "I support power delivery" and so on. It can also be used to create Apple-style authenticated cables which is a bit shit.

Anyway if these cables contain such chips $13 seems reasonable.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#344

Post by ars »

x0x0 wrote: post #338
ars wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once a part gets a bunch of good reviews unless the other one is way cheaper people will just by the known good one.

Except for a given review, you can't tell which seller sold that item. Anyone can list on a given item.

When I give a review and it's an item with a lot of sellers I mention who I bought it from. It would be good if everyone did that.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#345

Post by jmnicolas »

novaleaf wrote: post #113
DiabloD3 wrote: post #66

I see no reason why to buy anything but Anker. I once tried to purposely destroy an Anker MicroUSB cable (bought a 5 pack that had three 3ft, one 6ft, one 1ft, didn't need the 1ft), by grabbing the head of it with clamping pliers and yanking the fuck out of it with the cable wrapped around my hand, and bending it to near 180 degrees repeatedly for about 5 minutes. I could not kill it without straight up taking wire c…

i like Anker (good bang for buck) but they are not above fail: I have a 5 port USB charger and the middle port stopped working (thankfully the others still work, so I have a 4 port charger now) I bought a bunch of their external battery packs (aprox 15 of them) and none of those have failed)

It seems to be occurring rather frequently according to Amazon reviews.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#346

Post by ce4 »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #93
DiabloD3 wrote: post #66

I see no reason why to buy anything but Anker. I once tried to purposely destroy an Anker MicroUSB cable (bought a 5 pack that had three 3ft, one 6ft, one 1ft, didn't need the 1ft), by grabbing the head of it with clamping pliers and yanking the fuck out of it with the cable wrapped around my hand, and bending it to near 180 degrees repeatedly for about 5 minutes. I could not kill it without straight up taking wire c…

As someone who also owns and recommends several Anker products, I do have a counterexample: A microUSB cable I bought about a month ago has gotten it's locking pins stuck in the retracted position somehow, and no longer secures itself inside the port. Not a common case, of course, but they're not infallible.

That's what happens to all my Anker cables one after another.

I've opened one failed cable's connectors and it looked like a design problem: The micro USB connector's metal jacket is really short and not properly anchored inside the connector (it is attached to 2 plastic hooks inside). Once it's bent too much, those hooks loosen and the two steel springs lose their tension and retract.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#347

Post by awqrre »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #66

I see no reason why to buy anything but Anker. I once tried to purposely destroy an Anker MicroUSB cable (bought a 5 pack that had three 3ft, one 6ft, one 1ft, didn't need the 1ft), by grabbing the head of it with clamping pliers and yanking the fuck out of it with the cable wrapped around my hand, and bending it to near 180 degrees repeatedly for about 5 minutes. I could not kill it without straight up taking wire c…

Did you try pulling it out of the plug by pulling it by the wire at a 90 degree angle (up/down or left/right) from the way you would usually pull out a USB cable like a toddler might do?

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#348

Post by ridiculous_fish »

Oh hey Benson! waves

I worked a little with Benson. He's a fantastic guy with a penchant to veer into epic rants, which he seems to have kept in check on these reviews. Our loss!

Anyways he is a kernel software engineer and surely has some assistance (or at least double checking) from the resident EEs. This feels like a bottom-up initiative, showcasing how Google can empower its engineers. Great stuff.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#349

Post by melchebo »

larrybud wrote: post #78
mikestew wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I filter out one and five star reviews. To me, five stars means when you use the product, Jesus appears before you. One star means I ordered a cable and received a dead crab instead (pretty sure there's an XKCD that covers the last one). But others don't agree with my rating system, so "ordered blue, but it was robin egg blue. Werst company evar!!!11" means one star. Five stars means "I work for the compa…

Really? If a product meets your needs, is a fair price, and seems to be working fine after 30 days, you would not give it 5 stars? It would need to perform miracles to get 5 stars?

eBay really dug themselves into that hole when they introduced the star rating system. Basically they mapped everybody who wasn't actually known to be bad onto 5 stars. Which is why you get messages begging you to rate them 5 star.

Personally 5 stars would be when the box it came in had water soluble ink and it made a mess on your clothes, but the company offered to pay the dry cleaner costs. Even though there was no expectation for them to know that the shipping company would leave package in the rain / a puddle for so long.

Anything above "meh, it didn't crash and burn immediately, I guess it's okay" is 5 stars on eBay.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#350

Post by pgeorgi »

voltagex_ wrote: post #254
lchengify wrote: post #81

These reviews took me back (and made me laugh). They have the same to-the-point-and-technically-correct tone as code reviews internal to Google. In all seriousness though, these are important for a non-obvious reason: Nexus 6x devices don't ship with USB2-USB3 adapters (they only have a USB3 cable with a wall charger). So ... anyone who wants to hook up their Nexus 6x to a laptop will almost certainly to Amazon to bu…

What I can't work out is am I going to damage my new 5X with any of these cables? There's a limited number that'll ship to Australia

You might damage the other end of the connection if the 5X considers it alright to draw 3A (because the cable says so) but the other end isn't prepared to deal with that.

Generally speaking, USB cables won't make the receiving end request more than they can handle. It's always about the power source.

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