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The original designers thought people would just make uber cables with full support. Manufacturers noticed they could shave off a few cents removing support fo

The original designers thought people would just make uber cables with full support. Manufacturers noticed they could shave off a few cents removing support for features "nobody uses".

Dylan16807 8y ago
Did they really expect every cable to have an active chip in it just to support 5 amps instead of 3? And it should have been obvious that charging-focused cables with no superspeed lanes would exist. When it comes to different qualities of wire, and Superspeed vs. Superspeed+, I'm ready to blame the manufacturers. But is that actually a problem in practice? Are there 1 meter cables that have been tested to not support Superspeed+? And the mess of what-supports-what with thunderbolt speeds is definitely Intel's fault.
- slededit 8y ago
  The less you twist the cable the less wire you use - but at the cost of noise. Manufacturers have no problems making the cheapest cable that just barely negotiates at the lowest speed level. Like with SD card speeds its a hard sell on the store shelf to get the more expensive one. People don't know how Superspeed vs Superspeed+ is going to affect them. Plus given the markup at Best Buy people can barely afford the cable as it is. I always found it funny Fry's has a separate cable section near where they sell soldering irons for people who know better.
adrianmonk 8y ago
This is how market competition works. When choosing which product to buy, a few people do in-depth research, but most people just look at what is immediately obvious. If a difference in features or quality isn't readily apparent at this stage (and/or the buyer is not educated enough on the subject to understand/appreciate it), then it doesn't provide a competitive advantage. Put another way, people will not buy a product just because it is better. It only matters if it is better in a way that is hard to miss in the short time (think 15 seconds or something) that someone might spend deciding which product to buy. This is one reason competition isn't a silver bullet for ensuring the best products win.
- AnthonyMouse 8y ago
  That's assuming there is no iteration. The people who buy products without doing the research get burned and so next time they do the research. There is no easy way to avoid this. If all somebody knows is that they want a "video cable" they're going to come home with an RCA cable. At best you have someone you trust who can answer your questions, at worst you pay the cost of learning for yourself.

The original designers thought people would just make uber cables with full support. Manufacturers noticed they could shave off a few cents removing support for features "nobody uses".

Dylan16807 8y ago

Did they really expect every cable to have an active chip in it just to support 5 amps instead of 3? And it should have been obvious that charging-focused cables with no superspeed lanes would exist. When it comes to different qualities of wire, and Superspeed vs. Superspeed+, I'm ready to blame the manufacturers. But is that actually a problem in practice? Are there 1 meter cables that have been tested to not support Superspeed+? And the mess of what-supports-what with thunderbolt speeds is definitely Intel's fault.

slededit 8y ago
The less you twist the cable the less wire you use - but at the cost of noise. Manufacturers have no problems making the cheapest cable that just barely negotiates at the lowest speed level. Like with SD card speeds its a hard sell on the store shelf to get the more expensive one. People don't know how Superspeed vs Superspeed+ is going to affect them. Plus given the markup at Best Buy people can barely afford the cable as it is. I always found it funny Fry's has a separate cable section near where they sell soldering irons for people who know better.

adrianmonk 8y ago

This is how market competition works. When choosing which product to buy, a few people do in-depth research, but most people just look at what is immediately obvious. If a difference in features or quality isn't readily apparent at this stage (and/or the buyer is not educated enough on the subject to understand/appreciate it), then it doesn't provide a competitive advantage. Put another way, people will not buy a product just because it is better. It only matters if it is better in a way that is hard to miss in the short time (think 15 seconds or something) that someone might spend deciding which product to buy. This is one reason competition isn't a silver bullet for ensuring the best products win.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago
That's assuming there is no iteration. The people who buy products without doing the research get burned and so next time they do the research. There is no easy way to avoid this. If all somebody knows is that they want a "video cable" they're going to come home with an RCA cable. At best you have someone you trust who can answer your questions, at worst you pay the cost of learning for yourself.