7 ms·

Serious question: WHY can't the computer industry do this for USB-C cables and ports? It's desperately needed and shameful that they haven't done this.

by jzl 10y ago

sfifs 10y ago
Because what's the incentive? In this case, the incentive was pressure from the Government to make life easier for tourists coming for the Olympics.
- jzl 10y ago
  The incentive is not give USB-C a bad name by having people fry their computers and devices by using the wrong cable. Try googling "usb-c cable won't damage". There should be standardized icons denoting what the cable is capable of doing.
nomercy400 10y ago
Think back fifteen years and think about how you used to charge your phone. The mobile phone industry standardized on using USB for charging, mostly because the EU mandated one standard for charging. And the USB port actually has been standardized with USB-C. Problem with USB-C nowadays is that the connector is not tied to the functionality. Sometimes you get high throughput, thunderbolt, or a high charging port, sometimes you don't.
- jzl 10y ago
  Right, and that's exactly what I'm referring to. See this article that got a lot of attention: http://blog.fosketts.net/2016/10/29/total-nightmare-usb-c-thunderbolt-3/ http://blog.fosketts.net/2016/10/29/total-nightmare-usb-c-th... Or just look at the USB-C cables sold by Apple. There should be standardized icons on the cable denoting what the cable is capable of doing.
azernik 10y ago
You mean for charging or for connecting to peripherals? It's going to happen for peripherals, but it's an ecosystem with two sides; you'll have laptops adding more and more USB-C ports as more support arrives, but it'll take time. WRT charging, see e.g. this [1] year-old article - the implementations are going to take a while to get uniform enough for it to be a truly "standard" charger. But a wide variety of vendors are experimenting with it, and the future is bright.
- jzl 10y ago
  For both. There should be standardized icons on USB-C cables denoting what the cable is capable of doing so that people don't fry their devices by using the wrong cable.
Sharlin 10y ago
The era of USB-A was a golden age - an almost mythical period of time when everyone against all odds actually agreed to converge into one universal way of attaching peripherals. Alas, nothing lasts forever. Now it's back to how it usually is with standards [1]. [1] https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/
- hawski 10y ago
  When was this "golden age"?
- ghaff 10y ago
  And it was still a period of transition from other interfaces to USB. And there was still a lot of proprietary charging cables/connectors for mobile devices. And USB-A didn't work reliably a decent chunk of the time. USB was a great improvement for attaching many peripherals to computers but it really wasn't a golden age.
- ashark 10y ago
  I have devices with ports in USB-A, USB-B (printer, hubs, hard drive enclosures), Mini USB (ewwww), and Micro USB. I expect I'll still have all of those by 2022, except maybe mini USB if I've ditched my PS3 (doubt it). But by then I'll probably also have a handful of USB-C devices (maybe 2 or 3—I have none right now) and likely a semi-compatible USB-C-2.0, plus USB-D and USB-F will be out and claiming to be the Way Forward, too.
  - Arizhel 10y ago
    What's wrong with miniUSB? It's a superior connector to microUSB: it's thicker and far, far sturdier, and doesn't wear out so easily like microUSB always does. Most of the microUSB cables I've used eventually get really loose and don't lock into the socket correctly; this never happens with miniUSB. I honestly wish the industry had never invented microUSB and had stuck with miniUSB instead. As a bonus, the extra thickness of miniUSB would have prevented phones from getting so thin, so we'd likely have thicker, sturdier phones too with greater battery capacity. (But oh no!! These phones might weigh 0.2 ounces more!! That's too heavy!! /s)
etatoby 10y ago
Because Apple, who created a much better connector (Lightning) than both Micro-USB and USB-C, years before the latter was even invented, prevented other companies from using it. So the answer to your question is: GREED
- TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
  Lightning is a more convenient alternative to Micro-USB, but that's it. It's only USB 2, it is not a USB-C replacement.
  - ralfd 10y ago
    The 12-inch iPad Pro has USB 3 speed through the Lightning port.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
      Ah, maybe they upgraded it then. I know that so far it had only been USB 2.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
      Looking into it, you're correct, but I think it must be using additional pins (and interestingly the included cable isn't USB 3). At that point, Apple might as well switch to USB-C.

Serious question: WHY can't the computer industry do this for USB-C cables and ports? It's desperately needed and shameful that they haven't done this.

by jzl 10y ago

Serious question: WHY can't the computer industry do this for USB-C cables and ports? It's desperately needed and shameful that they haven't done this.

sfifs 10y ago

Because what's the incentive? In this case, the incentive was pressure from the Government to make life easier for tourists coming for the Olympics.

jzl 10y ago
The incentive is not give USB-C a bad name by having people fry their computers and devices by using the wrong cable. Try googling "usb-c cable won't damage". There should be standardized icons denoting what the cable is capable of doing.

nomercy400 10y ago

Think back fifteen years and think about how you used to charge your phone. The mobile phone industry standardized on using USB for charging, mostly because the EU mandated one standard for charging. And the USB port actually has been standardized with USB-C. Problem with USB-C nowadays is that the connector is not tied to the functionality. Sometimes you get high throughput, thunderbolt, or a high charging port, sometimes you don't.

jzl 10y ago
Right, and that's exactly what I'm referring to. See this article that got a lot of attention: http://blog.fosketts.net/2016/10/29/total-nightmare-usb-c-thunderbolt-3/ http://blog.fosketts.net/2016/10/29/total-nightmare-usb-c-th... Or just look at the USB-C cables sold by Apple. There should be standardized icons on the cable denoting what the cable is capable of doing.

azernik 10y ago

You mean for charging or for connecting to peripherals? It's going to happen for peripherals, but it's an ecosystem with two sides; you'll have laptops adding more and more USB-C ports as more support arrives, but it'll take time. WRT charging, see e.g. this [1] year-old article - the implementations are going to take a while to get uniform enough for it to be a truly "standard" charger. But a wide variety of vendors are experimenting with it, and the future is bright.

jzl 10y ago
For both. There should be standardized icons on USB-C cables denoting what the cable is capable of doing so that people don't fry their devices by using the wrong cable.

Sharlin 10y ago

The era of USB-A was a golden age - an almost mythical period of time when everyone against all odds actually agreed to converge into one universal way of attaching peripherals. Alas, nothing lasts forever. Now it's back to how it usually is with standards [1]. [1] https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/

hawski 10y ago
When was this "golden age"?
ghaff 10y ago
And it was still a period of transition from other interfaces to USB. And there was still a lot of proprietary charging cables/connectors for mobile devices. And USB-A didn't work reliably a decent chunk of the time. USB was a great improvement for attaching many peripherals to computers but it really wasn't a golden age.
ashark 10y ago
I have devices with ports in USB-A, USB-B (printer, hubs, hard drive enclosures), Mini USB (ewwww), and Micro USB. I expect I'll still have all of those by 2022, except maybe mini USB if I've ditched my PS3 (doubt it). But by then I'll probably also have a handful of USB-C devices (maybe 2 or 3—I have none right now) and likely a semi-compatible USB-C-2.0, plus USB-D and USB-F will be out and claiming to be the Way Forward, too.
- Arizhel 10y ago
  What's wrong with miniUSB? It's a superior connector to microUSB: it's thicker and far, far sturdier, and doesn't wear out so easily like microUSB always does. Most of the microUSB cables I've used eventually get really loose and don't lock into the socket correctly; this never happens with miniUSB. I honestly wish the industry had never invented microUSB and had stuck with miniUSB instead. As a bonus, the extra thickness of miniUSB would have prevented phones from getting so thin, so we'd likely have thicker, sturdier phones too with greater battery capacity. (But oh no!! These phones might weigh 0.2 ounces more!! That's too heavy!! /s)

etatoby 10y ago

Because Apple, who created a much better connector (Lightning) than both Micro-USB and USB-C, years before the latter was even invented, prevented other companies from using it. So the answer to your question is: GREED

TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
Lightning is a more convenient alternative to Micro-USB, but that's it. It's only USB 2, it is not a USB-C replacement.
- ralfd 10y ago
  The 12-inch iPad Pro has USB 3 speed through the Lightning port.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
    Ah, maybe they upgraded it then. I know that so far it had only been USB 2.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
    Looking into it, you're correct, but I think it must be using additional pins (and interestingly the included cable isn't USB 3). At that point, Apple might as well switch to USB-C.