I'm not even sure this was strictly true at one point. As soon as PS/2 keyboard vs mouse plugs, you had problems. Plus you had (and still have) various audio ja

I'm not even sure this was strictly true at one point. As soon as PS/2 keyboard vs mouse plugs, you had problems. Plus you had (and still have) various audio jacks on the computer anyway. Back to the mouse even prior to PS/2 you often had COM1 and COM2 and if I remember correctly you actually could not replug the mouse on the other port in a plug-and-plug way. You also could have very weird video cabling in the 3DFX 1 and 2 era. But yes, I agree the USB-C plug mess is probably the worst. It has became worse than what it "wanted" to solve. The only way to make it work as broadly advertised again would be if all plugs supported all protocols (that make sense for a given device) and PD options, etc. on all devices and with common cables, at max bandwidth everywhere, but not only I'm not sure this is technically possible, this would probably be cost prohibitive. And so what is the point? The net number of ports decreases on laptops, and there is no need on most gadget devices (beyond data+PD). The only point is for manufacturers to economize 50 cts and make the new inferior laptops pass as better than the old ones because they use the shinny new USB-C plugs. I would be happy if the price was actually 1/2 of the old models.