TL;DR: Cost.
USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
51–60 of 544 posts
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#52I've seen people try to connect ps/2 and vga cables upside down, and mash all the pins in the process. I'm fine with flipping a USB cable over a couple times until it goes in. /shrug
You can also insert the USB-a connector upside down, if you use enough force. It won’t really break anything but it will bend the plastic part so it becomes hard to insert the right way.
This is easily solved by also adding copper tracks on the backside of the connector!
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or displayport. Personally I find hdmi almost as annoying as usb, though I can’t explain why that happens!
One problem with HDMI is that it has no clips or screws or similar holding it in, unlike DP, DVI, VGA, BNC... I remember I used to knock the HDMI out of one of my monitors with my foot all the time. It plugged in going straight up and barely could resist a bit more force than gravity, and the cable dangled behind the desk since the tower was on the floor.
That has not been my experience with HDMI, I've never had a cable anywhere close to popping out because of gravity, no matter the orientation.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There's going to be video-only cables From my understanding I think that is not technically possible because to pass video they need the data lines but maybe I'm mistaken? IIUC again even if it did work I think these would be non-compliant. People hell-bent on doing non-compliant things would do it irrespective of any design. > low-voltage only cables That's a given due to physical constraints (length, diameter: wo…
> From my understanding I think that is not technically possible because to pass video they need the data lines but maybe I'm mistaken? Counterexample: The Meta Quest link cables use a USB-C style connector but internally are very different from a regular cable.
So, not actually USB compliant? (save for the connector)
One can't blame non-compliant cables on USB-C as it could happen with any other connector.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
and that can happen with literally every cable, people have abused USB-A and RJ45 for many decades...
Not every cable. Not if you make the connector a closed standard that can't be used without ruinous licencing fees and keep a squad of patent attorneys on retainer. Thankfully USB is not one of those.
> make the connector a closed standard that can't be used without ruinous licencing fees and keep a squad of patent attorneys on retainer
Time has shown that doesn't seem to prevent cheap - and potentially dangerous - knockoffs from areas outside possible litigation.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that there was more that could have been done to signal correct orientation. But an additional wrinkle is that the orientation of the port itself was not static. On laptops and desktops, it was horizontal. On certain other devices, it was vertical. Often these ports were in hard-to-reach or hard-to-see places, and having to reconcile the orientation in each case probably added to the frustration.
Not really, HDMI ports are in weird orientation and mounted in hard-to-reach places as well, but the shape makes it very obvious (even by feel) which way it should (or can't) go. This is much harder with the rectangular USB plug.
The "by feel" part is critical. Lots of ports on various devices are deliberately in the back of the device, or otherwise hidden, so that the wiring can be kept neatly out of the way.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#57Hear me out. The original USB only had 4 pins. I always thought a round ringed TRS style plug like headphones use would have been great. No way to orient it incorrectly.
I think the problem these connectors have is that each ring has to slide over the other contacts to get to its correct location. USB Type-A has longer contacts for pins 1 and 4, the power pins, so they contact first and remain contacted before the data pins make contact. You can see that in this picture https://www.electroschematics.com/usb-how-things-work/ .
Many of the TRS connectors have a built-in switch to (originally) disconnect the internal speaker.
It would probably have been easy to extend that concept to isolate all contacts until the tip hits the bottom.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#58If we're not going back to circular slip-ring connectors that allow rotation (like TRS or DC plugs,) then the step after the +-90-reversible USB-C is a triangular one. So you only need to rotate it +-30 if you got it wrong. Now I really want a triangular connector. Like in alien-tech movies.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can certainly see (1) happening, especially with cables that come with the device they are expected to plug into. It already widely happens with fallback to slower bit rate or lower power charging. But (2) seems very unlikely. Most consumers just won't even consider that it has an orientation, and after it fails a few times chuck it in the bin or send it back. If it comes with a device (i.e. printer or monitor come…
(1) as in Video only, as in they won't work to top up the battery in random Bluetooth gadgets and the like? Amongst compliant cables, you might occasionally find some that are rated 40 Gbps but do not identify as high voltage capable. But I suspect that once manufacturers stomach the wire cost of those fat 40+ cables (display!), skimping out on PD capability just won't make enough of a difference to abandon efficienc…
I didn't take it that literally.
Re: USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019)
#60I know everybody is still on the high from USB-C but I'm still going to go on the record it will be one of the biggest disasters in cable history. 1) There's going to be video-only cables; low-voltage only cables; etc and this time everything is usb-c so you can literally only tell which ables work by testing all of the dozen cables instead of the 1-2 USB-As you have. 2) The connector is symmetrical but the pins aren…
USBC has been out for over a decade, have you ever run into 2)
My keyboard came with a usb A to usb C cable which is proprietary in some way. A regular cable doesn’t work for it.