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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

#41

Post by creshal »

phil21 wrote: post #39
creshal wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wit…

Honestly I haven’t had much of an issue at all. Just buy trusted brands like Anker, Monoprice, Cables Direct, etc. for slightly more than the cheapest on Amazon. Have yet to receive a counterfeit, checking who is selling and fulfilling the item like you would anything else you buy from any other marketplace style site. I’m starting to believe the whole counterfeits/commingled inventory zeitgeist on Amazon is another…

> Just buy trusted brands like Anker, Monoprice, Cables Direct, etc. for slightly more than the cheapest on Amazon.

That category includes cables that can

- do one of the many quick charging standards (or multiple), but data only at 2.0 rates

- data at 3.x rates (any variants) but no power delivery

- power delivery, but only at limited wattages, and data at 3.0 speeds, to slow for alternate modes

If you know what you're doing, you can dodge all these landmines, but 99% of consumers do not and never will, and to them USB-C is that weird connector where they never know what'll work today. (Whoever decided that USB2 passthrough only works in one orientation was a real sadist, too.)

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

#42

Post by [deleted] »

thedanbob wrote: post #24
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.

[deleted]

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

#43

Post by archagon »

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.

Huh. I have a device that charges fine with A-C, but only charges in one orientation with C-C. Does this suggest that one of the resistors is busted?

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

#44

Post by Clamchop »

culebron21 wrote: post #40

I don't see how USB-C is improvement. Its socket has the flimsiest feet that keep it, and it its connectrs break off the board, and are impossible to solder back, unless you're pro fixer with a very good microscope. MicroUSB could be fixed with naked eye and thin iron, and type A sockets just never broke off the board.

The expectation here should be for more durable and modular construction of the device. USB C on its own is pretty damned durable.

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

#45

Post by Clamchop »

lm28469 wrote: post #13
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.

Meh, I was more or less forced to buy a USB c only pixel phone, for my headphones to work I had to buy 4 dongles in 6 months so far, one worked but had constant static noise in the background, one straight up didn't work, one died after 3 weeks, I'm now using an apple dongle which works fine excepts it only outputs 50% of the volume on android so in a lot of places it's just not loud enough And yes I refuse to buy e…

USB C isn't really at fault for the removal of the headphone jack, other than incidentally by making it reasonable for things as small as a phone to host USB devices at all.

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

#46

Post by fragmede »

RecycledEle wrote: post #19

USB-C adoption will take time. I can imagine a day, 10 years from now, when I only carry an IEC power cable,a 2-prong power cable, a Cat 7, 8, or 9 Ethernet cable,a HDMI cable with a couple of adapters, and a few USB-C cables. If we keep improving USB-C cables like we have Cat cables, and keep them at 28 V, 5 A power delivery, with power meters on at least one connector, I'll be happy.

What devices do you own that you'd have to upgrade in order to live this dream? By intentionally upgrading your devices, you can live that today, not in 10 years.

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

#47

Post by BobaFloutist »

fragmede wrote: post #29
RecycledEle wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.$

I think there is one use-case for them: Plugging them into public usbc charging ports.

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

#48

Post by erik_seaberg »

stephenr wrote: post #21
PopAlongKid wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

When the mouse bricked itself, I was forced to switch to the trackpad. Maybe I could plug the mouse in, if I happened to bring my only cable from home (or maybe from the office) that day. But there was no way of knowing when the mouse was usable again short of interrupting myself to test it. Over time, I decided the mouse wasn't worth the mental overhead and switched full-time to the trackpad, which always works.

Plugging in a laptop is a nuisance, but at least I can do that every time I sit down to start working and it will manage itself all day.

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

#49

Post by talldayo »

creshal wrote: post #41
phil21 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I haven’t had much of an issue at all. Just buy trusted brands like Anker, Monoprice, Cables Direct, etc. for slightly more than the cheapest on Amazon. Have yet to receive a counterfeit, checking who is selling and fulfilling the item like you would anything else you buy from any other marketplace style site. I’m starting to believe the whole counterfeits/commingled inventory zeitgeist on Amazon is another…

> Just buy trusted brands like Anker, Monoprice, Cables Direct, etc. for slightly more than the cheapest on Amazon. That category includes cables that can - do one of the many quick charging standards (or multiple), but data only at 2.0 rates - data at 3.x rates (any variants) but no power delivery - power delivery, but only at limited wattages, and data at 3.0 speeds, to slow for alternate modes If you know what you…

> and to them USB-C is that weird connector where they never know what'll work today.

No? What world do you live in?

Both of my parents have used USB-C for years, and they're more careful with their charging blocks than they are with their cables. All they care about is plugging in their devices to charge and USB-C cables do that fine. Both Lightning and USB are replete with non-conformant counterfeit cables, it's a moot point since people throw away anything that is nonfunctional. 99% of consumers don't need Thunderbolt capabilities, so they don't actually care if it's there. That's why your mom and dad don't charge their phones with fully-specced cables either.

Considering that Lighting cables tend to max out their wattage at the USB-C minimum, I think these are some seriously bottom-barrel arguments. Even child-friendly manufacturers like Nintendo consider USB-C perfectly suitable to trust with children, because it's actually not that hard to deal with if you're just trying to charge a tablet. And so does Apple, if you don't consider the Mac a fully estranged business.

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

#50

Post by stephenr »

RecycledEle wrote: post #19

USB-C adoption will take time. I can imagine a day, 10 years from now, when I only carry an IEC power cable,a 2-prong power cable, a Cat 7, 8, or 9 Ethernet cable,a HDMI cable with a couple of adapters, and a few USB-C cables. If we keep improving USB-C cables like we have Cat cables, and keep them at 28 V, 5 A power delivery, with power meters on at least one connector, I'll be happy.

I don't know what a "2 prong" power cable is.

If you're using a monitor (as opposed to a tv) you can ditch the HDMI cable, and use USB-C DP AltMode.

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