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I wonder if the the committee have looked at integrating colour or some other indicator into the standard so that cable/port capabilities are clear visually. T
by grlass 5y ago
I wonder if the the committee have looked at integrating colour or some other indicator into the standard so that cable/port capabilities are clear visually.
Though ofc the design challenge is for users to feel comfortable that putting red into blue won't break anything, it just might not give the expected features.
- dr_orpheus 5y agoThis does seem like it would be helpful. They started coloring the USB-A ports blue for those that were compatible with USB 3 high speed data. I think the challenge may be to get people to understand it more than being afraid to plug blue in to black. I know quite a few people just assumed the color choice was a design choice and if the cable fits, plug it in.
- ohazi 5y agoIndicator recommendations are routinely ignored. There are already color codes for type-A ports, and there's the "lightning bolt" indicator for Thunderbolt USB-C ports, but PC manufacturers ignore them when they want their laptops to have a certain look and feel (e.g. gaming laptops want red or green everything, Apple wants aluminum everything, etc.). Cable manufacturers are going to do whatever is cheapest.
- grlass 5y agoYeah, it's a bit of tragedy. Resistor style stripes on cables would be fun, a stripe for each feature such as bandwidth, power, etc; perhaps already suggested (and ignored). Though complement for ports would be trickier. Embossing symbols in the style of thunderbolt might be the way to go, even if the standard is not fully adopted.
- spicybright 5y agoHa, I love the color idea.
- omega3 5y agoThis is terrible for colorblind people.
- salawat 5y agoFor accessibility, assign specific texture patterns on the outside of the insulation for different capabilities. Then you can tell the capabilities by running the cable through your hands.
- watersb 5y agoI actually have started down this path for my own cables -- the nylon braided ones are lower power etc. My first attempt was different colors for each device, but was too tedious. Three categories - low power, high power slow USB2, and 100W Thunderbolt. - Low power: generic cables from wherever - High power slow: cables that came with reputable charger (the vendor's cable, like Apple or Samsung; my favorite 3rd party charger is https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp-pc112-gan-tech-61w-wall-charger https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp-pc112-gan-tech-61w-wall...) - Thuderbolt: I buy from https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt
- Dylan16807 5y ago> each feature such as bandwidth, power, etc; Honestly that's about all you need. Even just a bandwidth indicator would be suitable 90% of the time.
- SiVal 5y agoSince the design philosophy behind USB-C is "it must always seem as though it should work", I think we'll need something like the old "tube testers" a few of us still remember. Decades ago, when your TV was behaving badly, you would take the back off (unplug first!), pull the vacuum tubes out, and take them in a bag to the nearest convenience store. They had a "tube tester" the size of a washing machine. You'd plug each tube into a connector, one at a time, press the "test" button, and the needle on the dial would show good/poor/fail. The body of the tester was a cabinet containing replacement tubes you could buy (and which you could even test right there). We might need to start using USB-C cable testers. Plug in a new cable, get a good/poor/fail analysis of each potential USB-C feature, then you mark your cable yourself with some labeling scheme.
- lazide 5y agoGod damnit - TAKE MY MONEY! I've been having to implement tons of my own testing because no cable ever works the way you think it will. I've got a giant pile of thick super beefy USB-C cables which only transmit data at USB 2.0 speeds. Which per the USB standards committee is apparently Working As Intended, but that is definitely not ok.
- ktkoffroth 5y agoI'm down to work on this idea.
- tingletech 5y agoI remember some drugstores had these when I was growing up. My grandpa had two of them in his garage; where he had bought the machine and the stores' collection of tubes, when they were falling out of fasion.
- watersb 5y agoExcellent idea. I remember going through the tube testing ritual with my Mom. Good times. It was really interesting to me, how my Mom could take things apart and figure things out. (She taught me that the inside of a TV was dangerous, and kept the screwdrivers up where I couldn't reach them.)
- madsbuch 5y agoOr! We could go one step further, and change the connector to make sure that people use them correctly. Wouldn't that be clever!?
- jquery 5y agoDidn’t Europe ban this?
- mamurphy 5y agojquery was downvoted but I recall articles like this (https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/17/21070848/eu-apple-european-commission-common-charger-lightning-cable-port https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/17/21070848/eu-apple-europea...) with the EU trying to ban any "non-standard" connector. Maybe non-standard connectors are actually a feature, not a bug, because everything having the same connector but not the same functionality will lead to confusion as described above.
- 8note 5y agoI don't think it was ever true that the connectors on the two devices determine whether they're compatible. You can find all sorts of different connectors on a cable to connect two devices together, but you still only knew that devices are/are not compatible by trying to plug them in At least with the current setup, you are unlikely to burn out the devices by trying a cable.
- Klinky 5y agoPeople already incorrectly buy USB A when they should have bought USB C or visa versa. Changing the physical form-factor doesn't solve this problem. "I thought I needed a USB cable"? Also it's a huge waste if say an HDMI 2.1 cable cannot be used on an HDMI 2.0/1.4 device. People would complain about that too.
- wearywanderer 5y ago> People already incorrectly buy USB A when they should have bought USB C or visa versa. Changing the physical form-factor doesn't solve this problem. At least the nature of the problem is immediately apparent to such people the moment they attempt to plug the cable in. If the cable won't fit, they know there is nothing wrong with their computer; they didn't misconfigure anything or click the wrong button. The problem is unambiguous. Some USB-C cables not working with some USB-C sockets leaves users feeling gaslit.
- bogidon 5y agoFrom the actual spec[1]: > All EPR cables shall be Electronically Marked and include EPR-specific information in the eMarker as defined by the USB PD specification. As defined in the USB PD specification, EPR cables are marked as 50 V and 5 A capable. All EPR cables shall be visibly identified with EPR cable identification icons as defined by the USB-IF. This is required so that end users will be able to confirm visually that the cable supports up to as high of PDP = 240W as defined in the USB PD specification." Both are important. I also wish devices had some UI to easily show the capabilities of a connected cable to the user. I could not find actual visual representations of the the "identification icons". [1]: (page 143) https://usb.org/document-library/usb-type-cr-cable-and-connector-specification-revision-21 https://usb.org/document-library/usb-type-cr-cable-and-conne...