5 ms·

seriously... what do people even use usb-a for besides charging things? compatibility was crap, transition to 3.0 was crap and even the highest end computers of

by wooter 9y ago

seriously... what do people even use usb-a for besides charging things? compatibility was crap, transition to 3.0 was crap and even the highest end computers offered limited ports - opting to keep a few 2.0s given that support for 3.0 on the device side was even weaker, big, asymetric, fragile, ... lets just let it die and move to cables that won't need a dongle and aren't thicker than almost everything in a laptop from this generation

lmm 9y ago
I still want to be able to transfer data to/from my phone (S7) and my camera. I still want to use my headset. These things are going to last for several years; as such I'm not buying a laptop without USB-A any time soon.
- wooter 9y ago
  bluetooth? wifi? the future is wireless (hopefully, imo)
  - lmm 9y ago
    I tried a bluetooth headset but it had enough extra latency to throw me off (I play rhythm games sometimes). In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone, but I don't think it offers an easy way to do that (and my camera doesn't have wifi at all).
    - daxelrod 9y ago
      > In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone I could HotSync my Treo over Bluetooth 10 years ago and it was an effortless two-way sync with reasonably good conflict resolution. It amazes me that nothing quite gets that right these days.
      - lmm 9y ago
        Maybe something like that would be usable for text or sound, but transferring a video over bluetooth is paniful.
        daxelrod 9y ago
        WiFi is clearly the correct solution in 2017. It's just sad how this has gotten harder for users as technology has otherwise improved.
MLR 9y ago
Mouse, headset, keyboard, gamepad, bluetooth receiver, USB sticks, and yes a phone charger. I have no intention of replacing any of these things until they break, that could be a long, long time.
- wooter 9y ago
  on desktop, i definitely feel you.
- krrrh 9y ago
  I picked up a 2-pack of USB-A/USB-C adaptors on Amazon for $10. I keep them in my bag, it hasn't been a problem. If you're plugging in more than two things at a time then you'd probably benefit from a hub anyway.
- astrodust 9y ago
  This is exactly the same things people were saying when USB 1.0 arrived, yet somehow people managed to switch.
  - ashark 9y ago
    I'm pretty sure I didn't retire the last of my ps/2, serial, and parallel port equipment until about 2010. Gameport and AT probably went out around '05-'07—until then USB saw very little use and if I'd had to pick all-USB or no-USB, I'd have chosen the latter. My ~3-4yr old unremarkable desktop motherboard still has several legacy ports. I've made no special effort to resist USB, I just haven't retired equipment if it's still useful. USB came out it 1996. Peripherals stick around a long time.
    - melling 9y ago
      A bit misleading. Apple was the first major manufacturer to adopt USB in 1998. It took a good 5 years before PC's started adopting them. The move to USB-C is happening much faster. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/why-your-next-phone-or-laptop-should-have-usb-c,news-23100.html http://www.tomsguide.com/us/why-your-next-phone-or-laptop-sh... You'll soon need adapters to use those peripherals for laptops and Surface type devices.

by wooter 9y ago

lmm 9y ago

I still want to be able to transfer data to/from my phone (S7) and my camera. I still want to use my headset. These things are going to last for several years; as such I'm not buying a laptop without USB-A any time soon.

wooter 9y ago
bluetooth? wifi? the future is wireless (hopefully, imo)
- lmm 9y ago
  I tried a bluetooth headset but it had enough extra latency to throw me off (I play rhythm games sometimes). In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone, but I don't think it offers an easy way to do that (and my camera doesn't have wifi at all).
  - daxelrod 9y ago
    > In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone I could HotSync my Treo over Bluetooth 10 years ago and it was an effortless two-way sync with reasonably good conflict resolution. It amazes me that nothing quite gets that right these days.
    - lmm 9y ago
      Maybe something like that would be usable for text or sound, but transferring a video over bluetooth is paniful.
      - daxelrod 9y ago
        WiFi is clearly the correct solution in 2017. It's just sad how this has gotten harder for users as technology has otherwise improved.

MLR 9y ago

Mouse, headset, keyboard, gamepad, bluetooth receiver, USB sticks, and yes a phone charger. I have no intention of replacing any of these things until they break, that could be a long, long time.

wooter 9y ago
on desktop, i definitely feel you.
krrrh 9y ago
I picked up a 2-pack of USB-A/USB-C adaptors on Amazon for $10. I keep them in my bag, it hasn't been a problem. If you're plugging in more than two things at a time then you'd probably benefit from a hub anyway.
astrodust 9y ago
This is exactly the same things people were saying when USB 1.0 arrived, yet somehow people managed to switch.
- ashark 9y ago
  I'm pretty sure I didn't retire the last of my ps/2, serial, and parallel port equipment until about 2010. Gameport and AT probably went out around '05-'07—until then USB saw very little use and if I'd had to pick all-USB or no-USB, I'd have chosen the latter. My ~3-4yr old unremarkable desktop motherboard still has several legacy ports. I've made no special effort to resist USB, I just haven't retired equipment if it's still useful. USB came out it 1996. Peripherals stick around a long time.
  - melling 9y ago
    A bit misleading. Apple was the first major manufacturer to adopt USB in 1998. It took a good 5 years before PC's started adopting them. The move to USB-C is happening much faster. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/why-your-next-phone-or-laptop-should-have-usb-c,news-23100.html http://www.tomsguide.com/us/why-your-next-phone-or-laptop-sh... You'll soon need adapters to use those peripherals for laptops and Surface type devices.