51–60 of 143 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given that this is the only practical application you have to wonder why we ever had the one way plugs in the first place.
It was to reduce BOM cost. That is such a driver that there were (/are still?) cables without any data lines at all and only power, just to save money. I used them for plugging into public power supplies, but they were never sold to consumers labeled for that purpose.
I feel like USB-C is cursed enough on its own. The sheer number of times I’ve had to explain to family members why just because the two USB-C ports on a laptop look the same, doesn’t mean they work the same.
Between USB2, USB2-Power, and USB3, I haven't got a laptop that I know what USB port does what in a long time... And I still didn't get any with USB-C.
Some USB-C ports have DisplayPort output, so there's a DP near them. Some do Power Delivery, so there's a battery near them. And some are also a power input to the laptop, so there might be other random symbols near them.
It's chaos. I just juggle plugs until I get the expected behavior, and sometimes I never do because it's not implemented. I've given up.
I often have to flip old Lightning cables if there is corrosion on one side of the plug contacts. Also, Lightning has a problem with dirt and lint accumulation, so the end of a large paperclip is useful to clean-out the port on the device occasionally.
Now there are 4 combinations to try rather than two (flipping each end of the cable - 2x2 = 4)
I feel like USB-C is cursed enough on its own. The sheer number of times I’ve had to explain to family members why just because the two USB-C ports on a laptop look the same, doesn’t mean they work the same.
> just because the two USB-C ports on a laptop look the same, doesn’t mean they work the same. This is already a solved problem[1] through color coding. Not sure why they couldn't use that scheme. Maybe combine a few to indicate things like DisplayPort and Thunderbolt capability, could have up to four quadrants for example. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_System_Design_Guide#Color-c...
USB, HDMI, Cable ethernet, DisplayPort, PCIe, ... they all use differential signals to transmit data, just different protocols. We could really and truly have just one type of plug to connect everything to everything a long time ago and without proprietary licenses. As much as I like what USB-C offers as much I hate it and other "stupid" standards that duplicate same function just with differnt plugs - transfering da…
We should have different connectors for different data rates and power levels. Don't pass the buck to designers, they'll screw up.
I feel like USB-C is cursed enough on its own. The sheer number of times I’ve had to explain to family members why just because the two USB-C ports on a laptop look the same, doesn’t mean they work the same.
> just because the two USB-C ports on a laptop look the same, doesn’t mean they work the same. This is already a solved problem[1] through color coding. Not sure why they couldn't use that scheme. Maybe combine a few to indicate things like DisplayPort and Thunderbolt capability, could have up to four quadrants for example. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_System_Design_Guide#Color-c...
Speaking from experience, I don't think most end users are liable to pay enough attention to their ports to notice the color coding. I remember family members being confused by the blue 3.0 ports when those were a thing--now there's also red ones, and different color C ones, and some C ports have the little lightning bolt and some don't, and most users don't know what THAT means.
The value-add of USB C was supposedly you didn't have to buy different cables for different purposes now, you could just slap everything on a C port. But of course that's not truly the case, and we're now in a messy soup of standards and capabilities that even to seasoned tech professionals are hard to disentangle, much less for end users.
Calling this a solved problem 'cuz they slapped some colors on some of the ports is missing the forest for the trees.
I feel like USB-C is cursed enough on its own. The sheer number of times I’ve had to explain to family members why just because the two USB-C ports on a laptop look the same, doesn’t mean they work the same.
USB, HDMI, Cable ethernet, DisplayPort, PCIe, ... they all use differential signals to transmit data, just different protocols. We could really and truly have just one type of plug to connect everything to everything a long time ago and without proprietary licenses. As much as I like what USB-C offers as much I hate it and other "stupid" standards that duplicate same function just with differnt plugs - transfering da…
The unfortunate thing is that Thunderbolt was created, and instead of a simple way to make PCIe external, we have this Intel-created mess that tunnels PCIe over some cursed "MPLS-like network" or whatever it is. And it was completely Intel-proprietary until recently. At least now the spec is open.
My Galaxy S8 and 60W USB-C charger appear to work like this - I often have to do a 180° turn for the phone to start charging. They only do that in this combination. Not sure if it's consistent though - I should probably mark one side and check.
https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/third_party/hdc...
(but that's with a special cable)