5 ms·
Since 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
by SiVal 5y ago
Since 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.)