3 ms·

Well the rest of the phone manufacturers settled on mini usb followed by micro usb. Prior to that there were a ton of proprietary phone charger/data cables, so

by jalk 7y ago

Well the rest of the phone manufacturers settled on mini usb followed by micro usb. Prior to that there were a ton of proprietary phone charger/data cables, so it did help some

zaarn 7y ago
The EU luckily didn't put their foot down so phones were allowed to progress from mini-usb over micro-usb to USB-C. It definitely helped a lot (but Apple still kinda ruined it).
- microtherion 7y ago
  Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome. Not quite sure what to think of USB-C yet. Certainly feels more mechanically solid than micro-USB, but subjectively, the plug connection seems a bit slippery. Cables seem to disconnect spontaneously more than they do with e.f. Lightning.
  - zaarn 7y ago
    In my experience, it depends on the cable. Some cables feel much better and don't come off as easily as others.
    - dzhiurgis 7y ago
      Also ports. First MacBook Pro ports sucked and weren't firm at all. New ones are great. Some connectors are actually too hard to push in.
  - mendelmaleh 7y ago
    More than slippery, I think simply some ports (ie the Pixels) are looser than others.
  - dTal 7y ago
    > Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome. It would have been wonderful. It seems like every time a connector starts to reach the critical mass of adoption where I actually have a reasonable ecosystem of chargers and cables and devices, they go ahead and change it - usually for the worse. mini-USB was great - I had phones, accessories, the lot with it. Then they changed it for the weaker and more symmetrical looking (but still not symmetrical) micro-USB and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth - but it was was still simple and functional and is now ubiquitous again. If we had stayed there I could have dealt with it, despite the odd annoyance - for a brief, shining moment, I could charge my phone at my friend's house and vice versa. Now with USB-C it's all gone to shit again: - I have a new phone that charges over USB-C - but only fast charges with the included adapter, which looks like a regular USB-A wall adapter + A->C plug but actually has some proprietary magic in it. Something about "unusual fast charging standards". - My laptop came with a USB-C charger but the plug failed after some months, its microscopic contacts losing their spring. - Needing a new charger because soldering a USB-C connector is quite daunting, I bought an Apple wall charger because it uses a replaceable cable. I discovered later that the cable is apparently nonstandard and incredibly expensive. I bought an unbranded one, at no small cost. - The unbranded USB-C to USB-C cable failed again after some months. I bought an official Apple cable, to even more considerable expense. That worked, until the port on the laptop died. The laptop sits dead for now. - Since I now have a 85W USB-C charger lying around, I thought I'd try it on my new phone. But if I plug the Apple adapter into the phone it makes very loud and alarming capacitor noises, especially when full - enough to wake me up in the middle of the night when it gets to 100% (and it takes until the middle of the night, because it doesn't fast charge). This is a shitshow. Give me back my micro-USB. Yes it's annoying to insert, but at least they last more than a few months, have a single standard, can be soldered, and don't fry devices.
    - zaarn 7y ago
      >- I have a new phone that charges over USB-C - but only fast charges with the included adapter, which looks like a regular USB-A wall adapter + A->C plug but actually has some proprietary magic in it. Something about "unusual fast charging standards". USB-PD is standardized. Don't blame USB if the manufacturer decides to not implement it. >- Since I now have a 85W USB-C charger lying around, I thought I'd try it on my new phone. But if I plug the Apple adapter into the phone it makes very loud and alarming capacitor noises, especially when full - enough to wake me up in the middle of the night when it gets to 100% (and it takes until the middle of the night, because it doesn't fast charge). It#s not entirely unusual that cheaper charging circuits start to humm in the audible range if far under their designed output power.

by jalk 7y ago

Well the rest of the phone manufacturers settled on mini usb followed by micro usb. Prior to that there were a ton of proprietary phone charger/data cables, so it did help some

zaarn 7y ago

The EU luckily didn't put their foot down so phones were allowed to progress from mini-usb over micro-usb to USB-C. It definitely helped a lot (but Apple still kinda ruined it).

microtherion 7y ago
Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome. Not quite sure what to think of USB-C yet. Certainly feels more mechanically solid than micro-USB, but subjectively, the plug connection seems a bit slippery. Cables seem to disconnect spontaneously more than they do with e.f. Lightning.
- zaarn 7y ago
  In my experience, it depends on the cable. Some cables feel much better and don't come off as easily as others.
  - dzhiurgis 7y ago
    Also ports. First MacBook Pro ports sucked and weren't firm at all. New ones are great. Some connectors are actually too hard to push in.
- mendelmaleh 7y ago
  More than slippery, I think simply some ports (ie the Pixels) are looser than others.
- dTal 7y ago
  > Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome. It would have been wonderful. It seems like every time a connector starts to reach the critical mass of adoption where I actually have a reasonable ecosystem of chargers and cables and devices, they go ahead and change it - usually for the worse. mini-USB was great - I had phones, accessories, the lot with it. Then they changed it for the weaker and more symmetrical looking (but still not symmetrical) micro-USB and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth - but it was was still simple and functional and is now ubiquitous again. If we had stayed there I could have dealt with it, despite the odd annoyance - for a brief, shining moment, I could charge my phone at my friend's house and vice versa. Now with USB-C it's all gone to shit again: - I have a new phone that charges over USB-C - but only fast charges with the included adapter, which looks like a regular USB-A wall adapter + A->C plug but actually has some proprietary magic in it. Something about "unusual fast charging standards". - My laptop came with a USB-C charger but the plug failed after some months, its microscopic contacts losing their spring. - Needing a new charger because soldering a USB-C connector is quite daunting, I bought an Apple wall charger because it uses a replaceable cable. I discovered later that the cable is apparently nonstandard and incredibly expensive. I bought an unbranded one, at no small cost. - The unbranded USB-C to USB-C cable failed again after some months. I bought an official Apple cable, to even more considerable expense. That worked, until the port on the laptop died. The laptop sits dead for now. - Since I now have a 85W USB-C charger lying around, I thought I'd try it on my new phone. But if I plug the Apple adapter into the phone it makes very loud and alarming capacitor noises, especially when full - enough to wake me up in the middle of the night when it gets to 100% (and it takes until the middle of the night, because it doesn't fast charge). This is a shitshow. Give me back my micro-USB. Yes it's annoying to insert, but at least they last more than a few months, have a single standard, can be soldered, and don't fry devices.
  - zaarn 7y ago
    >- I have a new phone that charges over USB-C - but only fast charges with the included adapter, which looks like a regular USB-A wall adapter + A->C plug but actually has some proprietary magic in it. Something about "unusual fast charging standards". USB-PD is standardized. Don't blame USB if the manufacturer decides to not implement it. >- Since I now have a 85W USB-C charger lying around, I thought I'd try it on my new phone. But if I plug the Apple adapter into the phone it makes very loud and alarming capacitor noises, especially when full - enough to wake me up in the middle of the night when it gets to 100% (and it takes until the middle of the night, because it doesn't fast charge). It#s not entirely unusual that cheaper charging circuits start to humm in the audible range if far under their designed output power.