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Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

philip.greenspun.com

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Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#21

Post by makeitdouble »

scarface_74 wrote: post #6

One criticism of Apple back in the Ive days was the lack of practicality. I like the fact that Apple relented on the MacBook Pros and they have an HDMI port. I don’t want to have to use dongles unnecessarily. > Apple fanboys/fangirls/fanothers: even the Mac Pro includes two legacy USB-A ports (admittedly it also has four Thunderbolt ports). Why is this relic of old tech cluttering the clean design of an Apple product…

I found the return of the HDMI and SD card reader so refreshing but also so puzzling.

On one hand that's what we asked for. On the other hand it was in the same wave as giving up on the touch bar, slowing (stopping ?) the evolution of the iPad, no touch support on the laptops when the design changes were hinting at it.

Basically it felt like they froze the hardware form factors in time to solly focus on the ARM transition and the Vision Pro. That's a good decision on many front, and also a sign that the mac is now in its "conservative" phase where change isn't to be expected for a very long time if ever.

Now that Panos is also gone from Microsoft, I wonder where innovation will happen on the laptop/desktop side. Asus and Lenovo ? If it doesn't, desktops will slowly fit into the mainframes' position, and laptops will be legacy/ultra niche tools.

Perhaps then it will truely be the year of the desktop for linux ?

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#22

Post by clnq »

makeitdouble wrote: post #11
aslilac wrote: post #3

calling USB A “legacy” and a “relic” is so misplaced. we all still own USB A devices. I challenge the author to go find a wired keyboard or mouse that comes with a USB C plug. it’s possible, but not easy. the thing is, we could just have both! this isn’t some winner/loser scenario. the real question should be why these computers with enough bandwidth for 11+ connectors don’t at least split the difference with 6/5 of…

> I challenge the author to go find a wired keyboard or mouse that comes with a USB C plug.. I can confirm, it's a journey. It's the same kind of journey than finding a hair trimmer that charges on USB C. I see it more as makers being complacent and not giving a fuck though. There's no technical reasons for those to be USB A, and the USB C ones work great. So yes USB A will be there for a while, and more often than n…

> USB A will be there for a while, and more often than not it's a symbolic middle finger to the buyer, a signal that a product should probably be avoided.

You have exceptionally strong opinions about USB A and C.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#23

Post by barrkel »

chungy wrote: post #5

I don't even have any devices that use USB-C. Not a single one. The only USB-C cables I have are for charging phones.

Phone, tablet, laptop, tyre pump, MiFi 5G hotspot, VPN router, portable monitor... most of my devices are USB C, except for my car (2019 - recent rentals are USB C), desktop PC, keyboard and mouse.

I think it's great for travel, combined with an Anker 737 or similar battery and Anker 736 100W charger.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#24

Post by danbolt »

I can’t speak for other people, but I feel like my life is a revolving cocktail of USB Type-A, Type-B, Micro, and Type-C. I can’t just cut and re-crimp my old 2001 Sony Memory Stick USB adapter (which still has drivers available for Linux) to support USB-C.

One thing that stuck out to me about the article is that the author didn’t talk much about their use cases with USB.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#25

Post by rgoulter »

upon_drumhead wrote: post #18
aslilac wrote: post #3

calling USB A “legacy” and a “relic” is so misplaced. we all still own USB A devices. I challenge the author to go find a wired keyboard or mouse that comes with a USB C plug. it’s possible, but not easy. the thing is, we could just have both! this isn’t some winner/loser scenario. the real question should be why these computers with enough bandwidth for 11+ connectors don’t at least split the difference with 6/5 of…

http://codekeyboards.com are currently USB C as are https://www.wasdkeyboards.com

More generally, I'd think many/most mechanical keyboards are USB C.

But I'd think that the budget, off-the-shelf keyboards would be USB A.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#26

Post by imoverclocked »

nfriedly wrote: post #13

> mechanical hard drive and a feeble 8 GB of RAM (is that even enough to run Windows by itself?) Windows 10 runs acceptably on a Core 2 Duo with 4 GB of RAM - this was my son's gaming PC until a couple of months ago. (It did have an SSD, though - a mechanical hard drive would certainly have reduced the snappiness.)

It’s pretty crazy that an operating system needs that much at all. I mean, we all get used to these big numbers but 4GB is actually a lot of bits. A single GB can store more books than a human can read in their lifetime. Somehow, we have accepted that the most fundamental piece of software on a computer should require many lifetimes worth of books of RAM. We have come a long way from thinking we would never need more than 640k!

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#27

Post by korginator »

USB-A should be relegated to the rubbish-heap of poorly designed interfaces for the simple reason that it has no physical indication (e.g., RS-232C) or clear visual indicator for orientation, and you get it wrong 50% of the time. It's way beyond time the USB-A interface is eliminated. USB-C can't get here fast enough.

My MacBook pro only has USB-C ports, they work well for data, video out, as well as power (charging) and I am glad to be rid of the USB-A ports.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#28

Post by barrkel »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #16
p1mrx wrote: post #8

USB-C was designed for highly-integrated mobile devices. Motherboard vendors don't want to deal with power delivery and DisplayPort, and users will be confused when that stuff doesn't work. When a USB-C port is out in space, rather than flat on a desk, C-to-A adapters create a lever arm that increases the risk of damage. Though this can be solved by using adapters with ~100mm of wire in the middle.

Power Delivery was an addendum to USB 2. It is specified for USB-A ports.

You aren't going to get 20W of fast phone charging power out of USB 2; you get 2.5W tops. USB 3 gets you to about 5W.

Meanwhile USB C goes up to 240W. You're probably never going to get that directly out of a motherboard.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#29

Post by [deleted] »

upon_drumhead wrote: post #18
aslilac wrote: post #3

calling USB A “legacy” and a “relic” is so misplaced. we all still own USB A devices. I challenge the author to go find a wired keyboard or mouse that comes with a USB C plug. it’s possible, but not easy. the thing is, we could just have both! this isn’t some winner/loser scenario. the real question should be why these computers with enough bandwidth for 11+ connectors don’t at least split the difference with 6/5 of…

http://codekeyboards.com are currently USB C as are https://www.wasdkeyboards.com

[deleted]

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#30

Post by korginator »

aslilac wrote: post #3

calling USB A “legacy” and a “relic” is so misplaced. we all still own USB A devices. I challenge the author to go find a wired keyboard or mouse that comes with a USB C plug. it’s possible, but not easy. the thing is, we could just have both! this isn’t some winner/loser scenario. the real question should be why these computers with enough bandwidth for 11+ connectors don’t at least split the difference with 6/5 of…

USB-C is simply more convenient to use, and you get it right 100% of the time, instead of your orientation being wrong 50% of the time with USB-A.
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