3 ms·

There's two fundamentally unrelated but easily muddled situations here. A) USB-C PD, USB-C audio, or even just straight-up USB-C data devices, and/or USB-C hos

There's two fundamentally unrelated but easily muddled situations here. A) USB-C PD, USB-C audio, or even just straight-up USB-C data devices, and/or USB-C hosts not adhering to standards. This is definitely a problem, but it's something that needs to be addressed by device manufacturers, not by the spec itself. B) Protocols other than USB over the USB-C connector (Thunderbolt 3, Displayport, potentially analog audio output?) not being universally inter-compatible. I don't see how this one is a real issue. Imagine for a moment that you had a magical morphing port that could be an audio jack, HDMI port, thunderbolt port, or USB port, and it just became whichever one it needed to be when you plugged something in. This is the situation we're in with USB-C multi-protocol, the port on the host device changes identity based on what it's connected to. That wouldn't mean that you could suddenly run your hard drive off a 3.5mm headphone cable.

pdpi 8y ago
> Imagine for a moment that you had a magical morphing port That's mostly the case with Apple's devices where all ports support all functionality, but there's products in the market where some but not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt- or USBPD-enabled. This becomes a royal pain in the arse, where you have a bunch of ports that all look like they should support the peripheral you're trying to plug in, but don't, for some reason.
- MBCook 8y ago
  So put a USB-C hub (because that’s the connector, what else would you buy?) into your Mac. And you plug your display into that. And it has some USB-C and Thunderbolt stuff plugged in. It used to all work, but now with the hub in-line your Thunderbolt drive doesn’t work and your display doesn’t get a signal. The hub must be broken, right? So you buy a new one. Same problem. How is any normal person supposed to figure this stuff out? You’re right. It’s a total mess.
  - pdpi 8y ago
    > So put a USB-C hub (because that’s the connector, what else would you buy?) into your Mac. This will eventually become a problem, definitely. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem right now because USB-C hubs are as common as hen's teeth (they're usually C to A, or C to a bazillion things)
    - MBCook 8y ago
      Right. If the hub supports Thunderbolt that fixes TB and USB-C will keep working but you’d still lose passyhrough video unless it was designed for that too. And don’t forget power delivery. Good USB-C hubs that support everything will be quite expensive. They’re basically limited Thunderbolt docks.

pdpi 8y ago

> Imagine for a moment that you had a magical morphing port That's mostly the case with Apple's devices where all ports support all functionality, but there's products in the market where some but not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt- or USBPD-enabled. This becomes a royal pain in the arse, where you have a bunch of ports that all look like they should support the peripheral you're trying to plug in, but don't, for some reason.

MBCook 8y ago
So put a USB-C hub (because that’s the connector, what else would you buy?) into your Mac. And you plug your display into that. And it has some USB-C and Thunderbolt stuff plugged in. It used to all work, but now with the hub in-line your Thunderbolt drive doesn’t work and your display doesn’t get a signal. The hub must be broken, right? So you buy a new one. Same problem. How is any normal person supposed to figure this stuff out? You’re right. It’s a total mess.
- pdpi 8y ago
  > So put a USB-C hub (because that’s the connector, what else would you buy?) into your Mac. This will eventually become a problem, definitely. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem right now because USB-C hubs are as common as hen's teeth (they're usually C to A, or C to a bazillion things)
  - MBCook 8y ago
    Right. If the hub supports Thunderbolt that fixes TB and USB-C will keep working but you’d still lose passyhrough video unless it was designed for that too. And don’t forget power delivery. Good USB-C hubs that support everything will be quite expensive. They’re basically limited Thunderbolt docks.