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Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

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Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#241

Post by kartan »

oaktowner wrote: post #217
phkahler wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> The average consumer has no idea if one of these cables will actually do what they proclaim. Isn't that what standards compliance is supposed to be for? Shouldn't the product have to be tested against the standard in order to get labeled USB X.Y ?? Or doesn't USB have such a requirement?

Who would do the testing?

The government is the one that should apply the laws to protect consumers and fair competence. Once something fishy has been detected they have to act.

https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consume...

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#242

Post by vetinari »

melling wrote: post #22

Has there been any uptick in USB-C adoption? Apple skipped it in their latest iMacs. I think they're waiting for the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 unification. https://thunderbolttechnology.net/blog/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-d... I've seen a couple Dell laptops but not much else. It's a much better form factor. Not to mention the elimination of USB superposition: :-) http://9gag.com/gag/6756457/usb-superposition

It's the only port on the Macbook.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#243

Post by bduerst »

sevensor wrote: post #173
bduerst wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone did an article a while back about where you can use the reading comprehension level of reviewers to weight the Amazon star system.

Interesting --- I can pretty much look at a review from across the room and discriminate good from bad based on paragraph structure and the distribution of capital letters. If it looks like paragraphs you would see on the page of a book, it's probably well-reasoned enough to agree or disagree with. If it's ragged, with irregular capitalization, it rarely contains meaningful content. There's nothing there to evaluate.

Definitely, it was something I looked into trying a while back. A chrome extension that would give different weighted amazon reviews based on a couple models, in line on Amazon's site, could be useful. I was also trying to figure out a way to do text mining of book samples for better book recommendations, based on my preferences, but getting the samples out of Amazon was a pain.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#244

Post by voltagex_ »

_wmd wrote: post #73
radiorental wrote: post #25

What I find interesting here is that Benson is essentially using his employer as a reputation guarantor. I guess depending on the company's HR that could fall either way of a) This is great, we're getting nice PR b) Mr Benson, we need to have a quiet word about what it is you do here and what Google is not in the business of. Really interesting. edit: I assumed this is part of his job. I just find the publishing of t…

This is very common among Googlers, and it bugs me because so many buy into it without further question, but in every case here, the reviewer also includes a detailed analysis describing how he came to his conclusion, rather than merely implying authority, and his reference to Google seems only to be in his capacity as working on a product team that might explicitly care about quality of accessories in a first genera…

Once devices start pulling 100w, doesn't it also become a safety issue?

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#245

Post by keithrl »

bkmartin wrote: post #17

The average consumer has no idea if one of these cables will actually do what they proclaim. The only way to really know is when other customers review the product, which we know is barely useful most of the time due to fraudulent reviews. Great job on the part of this Google engineer for writing such clear and technical reviews of the products. Now that an expert has called some of these cables out as not adhering t…

Lawyer here. Pure speculation/not legal advice:

Theoretically, people who purchased complain to their state attorney general or report the manufacturers to the FTC. There might be some recompense under consumer fraud laws. If enough people had bought them, there might be enough people to form a class action (doubtful though).

The problem is that amount of $ involved here is just not something anyone is likely to get up in arms about. It's $5. Most people will just write it off and never think about it again. No lawyer would bother either unless there were 10,000s of consumers willing to come forward and complain.

Just one of those shitty situations. Caveat emptor.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#246

Post by JoshTriplett »

lucb1e wrote: post #218
JoshTriplett wrote: post #175

Related: has anyone written reviews of car USB ports, what devices they're capable of charging, and workarounds for charging higher-current devices? Many car USB ports have failure modes similar to those documented in these reviews, and they can't actually deliver high current for charging high-end smartphones, let alone tablets and laptops.

Wait, you can charge/power a laptop over USB?

USB type C, yes. You can charge the current Pixel from a USB port. In the case of a type-A host port, you can do so slowly; in the case of a native type-C port, you can do so quickly.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#249

Post by blakeyrat »

oaktowner wrote: post #217
phkahler wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> The average consumer has no idea if one of these cables will actually do what they proclaim. Isn't that what standards compliance is supposed to be for? Shouldn't the product have to be tested against the standard in order to get labeled USB X.Y ?? Or doesn't USB have such a requirement?

Who would do the testing?

Does Underwriters Laboratories do that kind of testing? I'm honestly curious-- I don't think I've ever seen their logo on anything as cheap as a single USB cable.

If so, you can look for their logo and have... some confidence at least.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#250

Post by tajen »

oaktowner wrote: post #217
phkahler wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> The average consumer has no idea if one of these cables will actually do what they proclaim. Isn't that what standards compliance is supposed to be for? Shouldn't the product have to be tested against the standard in order to get labeled USB X.Y ?? Or doesn't USB have such a requirement?

Who would do the testing?

USB is a trademark. No-one shall use it unless the USB Implementors Forum certifies them: http://www.usb.org/developers/logo_license

It's the same for Android. It's open-source, but you cannot say that it's derived from Android unless you pass Google's tests (and according to Chinese independent manufacturors, you need to know people from the inside to advance your application).

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