USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess • Hacker News Board

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#31

Post by ilikehurdles » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:10 PM UTC

buzzerbetrayed wrote: post #19

jeremymcanally wrote: post #4

Really? I find it to be a game changer for me. The fact that my laptop, Switch, iPad, and several other devices can all share a charge has made my life much easier. I can just sprinkle a few of them throughout the house and never be without power. Before it was always a hunt to find a cable, or I had to be in [x] room to charge [y] device because that's where the charger lived. Plus, I can charge my MacBook on either…

Did you not read the article? Because your response doesn’t address any of the issues brought up in the article. Mainly that all the usb-c cables you sprinkle across your house might not have the same functionality. And if you plug your switch in to one it might charge it, while another will not.

Exactly! This has been my experience. I bought 3 different USB-C cables for my keyboard until I found one that let the keyboard work as the original did. I have a few usb-c cables that will charge my gopro and a few that won't. I like the form factor, but the standard itself is a mess.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#32

Post by bluedino » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

I have an LG 4K monitor, a MacBook Pro, and Sony headphones that charge over USB-C, so in that scenario USB=C has been bliss.

But with older machines/monitors, I need a pile of adapters. Still, I like it-for the most part.

The worst thing about USB-C is the dock situation for laptops. None of them are perfect, and most of them are garbage. $200-300 is a bit hard to swallow when I've been buying Lenovo docks for $50 for the longest time, but today's laptops don't have the docking port on the bottom.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#33

Post by shawnz » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #20

Don't worry. USB-C and associated standards are five+ years old now. Some new standards will be along soon enough. Then we will all have to buy new chargers/cables/devices again, continuing the cycle of chasing the universal bus nirvana. https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/news/intel/147329-usb-4-... >> The USB 4 specification was published in late 2019 and will probably appear in devices in late 2020 or early 2021 -…

USB-C isn't going anywhere, USB 4 still uses that connector.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#34

Post by izacus » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

vr46 wrote: post #23

jeremymcanally wrote: post #4

Really? I find it to be a game changer for me. The fact that my laptop, Switch, iPad, and several other devices can all share a charge has made my life much easier. I can just sprinkle a few of them throughout the house and never be without power. Before it was always a hunt to find a cable, or I had to be in [x] room to charge [y] device because that's where the charger lived. Plus, I can charge my MacBook on either…

Aha - you may find that your Switch CANNOT in fact share a charge - Nintendo's port is not necessarily safe to use with anything but its supplied charger. And I've just learned this lesson with a $60 bill from Nintendo repair after the port went pop and couldn't charge the device. I only have reputable chargers in the house from Apple and one from Anker aside from the Nintendo's own. All my apple kit works fine off t…

> Aha - you may find that your Switch CANNOT in fact share a charge - Nintendo's port is not necessarily safe to use with anything but its supplied charger. And I've just learned this lesson with a $60 bill from Nintendo repair after the port went pop and couldn't charge the device. I only have reputable chargers in the house from Apple and one from Anker aside from the Nintendo's own.

It has worked reliably with pretty much every charger I threw at it so this sounds like one of those urban myths.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#35

Post by dubcanada » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #20

Don't worry. USB-C and associated standards are five+ years old now. Some new standards will be along soon enough. Then we will all have to buy new chargers/cables/devices again, continuing the cycle of chasing the universal bus nirvana. https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/news/intel/147329-usb-4-... >> The USB 4 specification was published in late 2019 and will probably appear in devices in late 2020 or early 2021 -…

USB 4 is using USB C connector.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#36

Post by greenshackle2 » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

cowmoo728 wrote: post #22

jeremymcanally wrote: post #4

Really? I find it to be a game changer for me. The fact that my laptop, Switch, iPad, and several other devices can all share a charge has made my life much easier. I can just sprinkle a few of them throughout the house and never be without power. Before it was always a hunt to find a cable, or I had to be in [x] room to charge [y] device because that's where the charger lived. Plus, I can charge my MacBook on either…

Except the switch doesn't actually use usb-c pd, it's a different proprietary thing that uses a usb-c connector.

This is such a terrible design decision.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#37

Post by whywhywhywhy » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

It's honestly such a complete joke it's not even funny anymore. My USB-C MacBook Pro with it's pathetic two ports that my work bought for me is now old enough that the battery is starting to fail and we're still in a world where this single cable for power, screen and ports just doesn't seem to really exist.

I'm starting to be convinced the port is fundamentally flawed, dongles with multiple ports are never reliable enough to keep a drive mounted for any heavy work, HDMI glitches out. Doesn't matter what dongle I try they all have some sort of thing wrong with them.

The only dongle that works reliably enough to do light video editing with a drive is the $20 Apple single USB-C to A adapter, which converts one of your single USB-C ports to a single USB-A port.

The fact that Apple hasn't released a usb-c hub speaks volumes, lets be honest they could charge $500 for it and people would still defend and buy it. But I feel the reason they haven't it because the technology fundamentally doesn't deliver on this promise and it would be just as unreliable as the 3rd party ones.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#38

Post by sandworm101 » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

shawnz wrote: post #33

sandworm101 wrote: post #20

Don't worry. USB-C and associated standards are five+ years old now. Some new standards will be along soon enough. Then we will all have to buy new chargers/cables/devices again, continuing the cycle of chasing the universal bus nirvana. https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/news/intel/147329-usb-4-... >> The USB 4 specification was published in late 2019 and will probably appear in devices in late 2020 or early 2021 -…

USB-C isn't going anywhere, USB 4 still uses that connector.

Ya, but the OP wasn't just complaining about the connector. Rather, he was also commenting on the various standards that use that connector.

And FYI, I hear it is to be called "USB4", not "USB 4". Why? Because reasons.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#39

Post by postingawayonhn » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #20

Don't worry. USB-C and associated standards are five+ years old now. Some new standards will be along soon enough. Then we will all have to buy new chargers/cables/devices again, continuing the cycle of chasing the universal bus nirvana. https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/news/intel/147329-usb-4-... >> The USB 4 specification was published in late 2019 and will probably appear in devices in late 2020 or early 2021 -…

USB-C is the form factor. USB 4 is one of the protocols that works using the USB-C connector.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#40

Post by gruez » Thu, Oct 01, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

baconandeggs wrote: post #11

USB-C charging is truly revolutionary. USB-C data is a clusterf *k, and worse of all, is not UNIVERSAL anymore.

>USB-C charging is truly revolutionary.

Is it? I guess it's nice that I can charge my phone with my laptop charger, but it has the same issue as usb-c data where everything physically fits but are incompatible. eg. having to worry about whether a aftermarket charger provides enough voltage/current to charge your laptop.