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I remember back in 2015-2016 when everyone was heralding USB-C as the one port to rule them all. Turns out, it's more like 17 ports in a trench coat to rule the

by kunai 5y ago

I remember back in 2015-2016 when everyone was heralding USB-C as the one port to rule them all. Turns out, it's more like 17 ports in a trench coat to rule them none. It's been five years since USB-C became standard on MacBooks and we've seen Apple reverse course on the idea it could replace everything, and with the exception of a handful of ultraportables, most PC laptops and motherboards still include 2+ USB-A ports as well as other IO. In other applications, like cars, aircraft, public charging stations, USB-A is here to stay, and the advantages of USB-C are dubious at best. A more fragile port, for... what, reversibility? Having a clear use case for a port is invaluable. When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output. MagSafe? Power delivery. USB-A/Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus, like a printer or MIDI keyboard. USB-C eschews that philosophy entirely. In a way, it's almost like a step backwards to the days of serial ports and DIN cables, with different standards competing for supremacy and no way of knowing if Thing A works with Thing B without trial and error.

jeffbee 5y ago
> When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with-ethernet https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with... > Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus Nope. Firewire is masterless/multi-master/peer-to-peer. That's why you could not only transfer music from you laptop to an iPod, but from one iPod to another iPod without any (other) computers on the bus. It is also why two computers can by attached via Firewire, as a generic network link or for low-level debugging.
- selectodude 5y ago
  I have never seen an HDMI cable with ethernet. Ever. Monoprice doesn't even sell HDMI+Ethernet cables.
  - eyeareque 5y ago
    I’ve had a super old DVD player connect to the internet over an hdmi cable to my blue ray/surround sound system device that had Ethernet connected. It used the connection to patch itself, didn’t even ask if I wanted to.
  - k33l0r 5y ago
    Even a $7 AmazonBasics HDMI cable has Ethernet support (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0), not that this really matters since hardly any devices ever supported Ethernet over HDMI. Also, Ethernet over HDMI is limited to 100 Mbit/s which would make it slower than most modern Wi-Fi networks (leaving aside any possible reliability issues).
  - kalleboo 5y ago
    The first monoprice cable that came up on Google says it supports Ethernet https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682
crackercrews 5y ago
> In other applications, like cars, aircraft, public charging stations, USB-A is here to stay Newer cars are getting USB C. Not just luxury cars either. Some cars have both A and C. One nice thing about USB C is you can also charge laptops with them.
usrusr 5y ago
Playing USB-Cs advocate, a world where every specialist connector on a laptop would double as another USB to hook up random gadgetry when not in use as the primary role would be awesome. For example I never use that HDMI or the ethernet port. They exist because situations where the matching plugs are part of infrastructure you don't control, but I might prefer a world where those plugs need to be labeled because all the ports are the same to double as lowly gadget hosts. What's bad is the usual implemention where you have one "holy grail" port that's effectively a proprietary docking station connector (because no other docking station has the exact same subset of "concurrent beyond-USB stuff") that might downgrade to some single usecase protocols beyond serving as a lowly plain USB. But where you have a serious lack of other "USB and/or X" beyond The One. This quickly gets ugly when you want to connect display and power separately. You absolutely need another port that's also capable of delivering power (or the reverse, a second display-capable USB so that power can be fed in isolation via the docking-capable port), but this is unfortunately rare, instead you get special ports that are completely useless while doing the docking station thing.
dotancohen 5y ago
> Turns out, it's more like 17 ports in a trench coat to rule them none. That's why the body has an orifice for food, an orifice for defecation, an orifice for breeding, an orifice for breathing, ect. Some functionality should be kept separate, even if in some cases doubling up (breathing through the mouth) is technically possible.

by kunai 5y ago

jeffbee 5y ago

> When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with-ethernet https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with... > Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus Nope. Firewire is masterless/multi-master/peer-to-peer. That's why you could not only transfer music from you laptop to an iPod, but from one iPod to another iPod without any (other) computers on the bus. It is also why two computers can by attached via Firewire, as a generic network link or for low-level debugging.

selectodude 5y ago
I have never seen an HDMI cable with ethernet. Ever. Monoprice doesn't even sell HDMI+Ethernet cables.
- eyeareque 5y ago
  I’ve had a super old DVD player connect to the internet over an hdmi cable to my blue ray/surround sound system device that had Ethernet connected. It used the connection to patch itself, didn’t even ask if I wanted to.
- k33l0r 5y ago
  Even a $7 AmazonBasics HDMI cable has Ethernet support (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0), not that this really matters since hardly any devices ever supported Ethernet over HDMI. Also, Ethernet over HDMI is limited to 100 Mbit/s which would make it slower than most modern Wi-Fi networks (leaving aside any possible reliability issues).
- kalleboo 5y ago
  The first monoprice cable that came up on Google says it supports Ethernet https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682

crackercrews 5y ago

> In other applications, like cars, aircraft, public charging stations, USB-A is here to stay Newer cars are getting USB C. Not just luxury cars either. Some cars have both A and C. One nice thing about USB C is you can also charge laptops with them.

usrusr 5y ago

Playing USB-Cs advocate, a world where every specialist connector on a laptop would double as another USB to hook up random gadgetry when not in use as the primary role would be awesome. For example I never use that HDMI or the ethernet port. They exist because situations where the matching plugs are part of infrastructure you don't control, but I might prefer a world where those plugs need to be labeled because all the ports are the same to double as lowly gadget hosts. What's bad is the usual implemention where you have one "holy grail" port that's effectively a proprietary docking station connector (because no other docking station has the exact same subset of "concurrent beyond-USB stuff") that might downgrade to some single usecase protocols beyond serving as a lowly plain USB. But where you have a serious lack of other "USB and/or X" beyond The One. This quickly gets ugly when you want to connect display and power separately. You absolutely need another port that's also capable of delivering power (or the reverse, a second display-capable USB so that power can be fed in isolation via the docking-capable port), but this is unfortunately rare, instead you get special ports that are completely useless while doing the docking station thing.

dotancohen 5y ago

> Turns out, it's more like 17 ports in a trench coat to rule them none. That's why the body has an orifice for food, an orifice for defecation, an orifice for breeding, an orifice for breathing, ect. Some functionality should be kept separate, even if in some cases doubling up (breathing through the mouth) is technically possible.