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The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#21

Post by stephenr »

PopAlongKid wrote: post #10
freak42 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Apple mouse's charging port is on the underside, so you can't use the mouse at all while charging.

Thank you for explaining the issue. I guess there are Apple fans (including the author of the article) who can't conceive of a world where there are people who have never used an Apple mouse.

Most people who use an Apple mouse don't really find it to be "an issue". If by chance you ignore the days or weeks of reminders about charging, plugging in for 1-2 minutes will give you charge to last an entire day.

The people who complain about it are almost exclusively people who don't actually use it, but love to complain about it.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#22

Post by mmoskal »

My "favorite" are these pepper grinders, milk frothers etc that have a usb c plug but only work with usb a to c cables since they do not include the two resistors that are needed to enable 900mA on usb c to c cable. And if anyone says cost reduction, SMT resistors are like 0.1 cent or less... Seems just stupid.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#23

Post by stephenr »

ryandrake wrote: post #15
grouchomarx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

charging the magic mouse for two minutes will give you weeks of battery life

The point is that a peripheral device should not be unusable while it’s charging, whether that charge takes two seconds, two minutes, or two hours. I can’t think of any other recent electronics device that cannot be used while charging.

I can't use my watch while I charge it. Nor my earbuds. Nor my portable Bluetooth speaker.

None of those can give me any meaningful amount of use time (and definitely not enough for a full work day) from a 2 minute charge.

My mouse can. The port location is not a problem. The constant whining about it from people who largely don't use it is more annoying than any disruption a charge cycle causes.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#24

Post by thedanbob »

mmoskal wrote: post #22

My "favorite" are these pepper grinders, milk frothers etc that have a usb c plug but only work with usb a to c cables since they do not include the two resistors that are needed to enable 900mA on usb c to c cable. And if anyone says cost reduction, SMT resistors are like 0.1 cent or less... Seems just stupid.

I just noticed this recently with a USB-C flashlight. It wouldn't charge with a C-C cable but started working when I switched to an A-C cable. Good to know why.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#25

Post by LUmBULtERA »

maxerickson wrote: post #4

USB-C has already been a huge improvement, so the article lands kind of flat. Maybe they were heavily invested in stuff with lightning ports or something, so they didn't notice 5 years ago when everything else started to consolidate.

Yeah, I find the complaint now kind of odd. I'm now able to use USB C for almost everything except a few older devices that we'll eventually fade out (a baby monitor... that's about it). I'm happy with the situation over all.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#26

Post by hu3 »

stephenr wrote: post #23
ryandrake wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that a peripheral device should not be unusable while it’s charging, whether that charge takes two seconds, two minutes, or two hours. I can’t think of any other recent electronics device that cannot be used while charging.

I can't use my watch while I charge it. Nor my earbuds. Nor my portable Bluetooth speaker. None of those can give me any meaningful amount of use time (and definitely not enough for a full work day) from a 2 minute charge. My mouse can. The port location is not a problem. The constant whining about it from people who largely don't use it is more annoying than any disruption a charge cycle causes.

It's basic logic why why watches and earbuds generaly don't charge while in use. So bad example there.

If my Logitech G502 Lightspeed mouse couldn't charge while in use, I wouldn't even consider buying it.

Because when I pay for premium service, I expect premium delivery.

Anything else is fanboyism, handwaving and/or stockholm syndrome.

Specially because previous generation of apple's mice could be charged while in use.

I don't know why you're so upset on defending a downgrade with zero tradeoffs, only to end up with an inferior product.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#27

Post by stephenr »

hu3 wrote: post #26
stephenr wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't use my watch while I charge it. Nor my earbuds. Nor my portable Bluetooth speaker. None of those can give me any meaningful amount of use time (and definitely not enough for a full work day) from a 2 minute charge. My mouse can. The port location is not a problem. The constant whining about it from people who largely don't use it is more annoying than any disruption a charge cycle causes.

It's basic logic why why watches and earbuds generaly don't charge while in use. So bad example there. If my Logitech G502 Lightspeed mouse couldn't charge while in use, I wouldn't even consider buying it. Because when I pay for premium service, I expect premium delivery. Anything else is fanboyism, handwaving and/or stockholm syndrome. Specially because previous generation of apple's mice could be charged while in u…

> If my Logitech G502 mouse couldn't charge while in use, I wouldn't even consider buying it.

Similarly, if a mouse doesn't support touch gestures I wouldn't consider buying it.

I guess we both make compromises: you never have gesture support, I maybe can't use the mouse for two minutes while I go make a coffee if I forget to charge it overnight once a month.

> Specially because previous generation of apple's mice could be charged while in use.

The first version of the Magic Mouse required you to change AA batteries, and its predecessor was a wired USB mouse. Not really sure how you think either of those is charging while you use it?

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#28

Post by thiht »

maxerickson wrote: post #4

USB-C has already been a huge improvement, so the article lands kind of flat. Maybe they were heavily invested in stuff with lightning ports or something, so they didn't notice 5 years ago when everything else started to consolidate.

I bought a random USB-C cable and power brick at IKEA 1 or 2 years ago and I’ve used it successfully with my Kindle, iPad, MacBook Pro, security camera, electric clipper, PS5 and Switch Pro Controller, as well as Switch itself, and probably a few other devices I’m forgetting.

So yeah, from my point of view, USB-C just works. I have an iPhone 12 so no USB-C yet but I can’t wait to upgrade (maybe next year) to finally have USB-C everywhere.

I don’t care that not all cables support every feature or whatever, I don’t feel like it’s a really common issue in practice.

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#29

Post by fragmede »

RecycledEle wrote: post #20
amanaplanacanal wrote: post #17

My nemesis is the "charge only" cable. I plug it in and can't figure out why my devices won't connect.

Do yourself a favor. Get a cable tester. Test every cable and cut up/throw away the ones you do not love. Then order more really good ones than you can justify and keep them handy.

A better use of money, imo, is to just throw out any and all charge-only usb-c cables. Life's too short to be dealing with that crap.

(Speaking as someone that bought a tester but rarely uses it. If the cable doesn't at least work to connect my laptop and whatever peripheral that I have handy at time: trash can.$

Re: The Broken Promise of USB-C: We'll Never Get a Universal Cable

#30

Post by creshal »

Valgrim wrote: post #16
politelemon wrote: post #3

> Some, like Apple, say they do this for ecological reasons. But more cost-conscious manufacturers do so to save money, I had wondered if the author might be drinking a little too much apple juice, this was the line that confirmed it. No, they all do it for cost reasons, only one happens to spin marketing around it which you take at face value (if it were even remotely true, you wouldn't see the markup or immense was…

Not sure what functionality is not covered by current cables. Both my laptop and phone, which are several years old, use the usb-C connector for power, data, video, audio, and combined with a hub can connect to any usb peripheral out there. Sure, the weird triple-split usb-c connector that came with my son's cheap walkie-talkies from Amazon doesn't do all that. But I don't expect it to, and it will at least charge my…

Try buying an USB-C cable in a random brick and mortar store, or on Amazon. Between "fully thunderbolt 4 certified" cables that do everything, reliable, and "you get two wires for basic 5W charging" cables that reliably disappoint, there's a wild world of maybe sorta compatible cables (don't ask what they're compatible with), and that's before you get into counterfeiting problems (thanks, Amazon).

Edit: Yes, like with all problems in life, "just be better informed than 99% of the population" is a possible, if smug, solution. Just not a good solution for the other 99%.

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