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Why does it need to die?

by mattl 5y ago

ghaff 5y ago
The argument is that it's legacy and it will die because USB-C is better is a variety of ways. And in true Apple fashion, Apple is killing it somewhat aggressively. Though it's not just Apple. Something like a Google Pixelbook is USB-C only as well.
- rnk 5y ago
  The same thing can be said for the unnecessary apple lightning plug - it serves no purpose other than apple selling adapters and blocking usb-c use. Yet it keeps being used. Lots of companies have things with only usb-c but the real problem is not new use, it's the billions of devices with usb-a plugs on them. In my house there are probably 10 usb-c plugs across several computers and 100 usb-a things to plug in.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    The main purpose lightning serves is that it removes a barrier to Apple customers upgrading to the next iPhone. Apple will get to USB-C--probably sooner rather than later; I wouldn't bet against this year--but that's actually a case of getting onto a standard even though there's no real advantage right now for Apple customers and some pain.
    - threeseed 5y ago
      Apple won't move to USB-C for the iPhone. They are actively looking at how to transmit data over the Magsafe adapter. Once that happens there will be no ports.
  - tinus_hn 5y ago
    The Lightning connector was introduced in 2012 while USB-C was introduced in 2014. My theory is that Apple made commitments to keep supporting the Lightning connector on their phones for a number of years to get manufacturers to create devices with it. Say whatever you want, when it was introduced it was clearly a big improvement over the micro USB connectors everyone else was using. By now it’s holding them back though.
ghshephard 5y ago
There is absolutely zero need for USB-A. None. It does nothing whatsoever that USB-C can't do, and there are ton of things that USB-C can do better. There is no need for two USB "mid sized" plug standards - and obviously USB-C is now the dominant. Almost every single peripheral, device, component, that can run on USB-A runs on USB-C. And there is a huge contingent of devices that could never run on USB-A. As soon as everyone has agreed that USB-A is dead, completely dead, people will cease manufacturing USB-A peripherals, which further enhances the value of a port that almost everyone is now using for everything. Honestly - the USB-A port should have been wiped out a couple years ago - the only reason it didn't is that everyone has this massive legacy of USB-A ports (Hotels, Airports, Airplanes, etc...) that people plug into, which kept them holding onto those legacy peripherals longer than they should have. Also - some weird hardware dongles that haven't been upgraded to USB-C. What we need to do is start seeing how quickly Hotels/Cars/Airplanes/Airports/... start switching over to USB-C. When that happens there will be this massive cascade effect - it will be exponential: 2022 - ~0% of legacy is USB C 2023 - 1% legacy USB-C 2024 - 2% legacy USB-C 2025 - 4% legacy USB-C 2026 - 8% legacy USB-C 2027 - 16% legacy USB-C 2028 - 32% legacy USB-C 2029 - 64% legacy USB-C 2030 - 90% legacy USB-C 2031 - 95% legacy USB-C I'm guessing by 2032, nobody will be carrying legacy USB-A peripherals anymore. Only wildcard will be if there is a USB-next that will replace C. Please don't let that happen before USB-C takes over the world.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  Also, it always takes three tries to get a USB-A plug into the socket.
  - mattl 5y ago
    I have a USB-A Yubikey and I prefer it to the crappy USB-C one that’s just too small.
- tzs 5y ago
  > There is absolutely zero need for USB-A. None. It does nothing whatsoever that USB-C can't do, and there are ton of things that USB-C can do better. What's the USB-C story nowadays if you have N USB-C peripherals and M USB-C ports where N > M? Most USB-C hubs seem to have one USB-C for connecting to the computer, one USB-C for connecting to a peripheral, and then a bunch of USB-A for connecting to more peripherals. To get something that actually increases the number of USB-C peripherals, especially if more than one of your peripherals needs more than low power, and is reliable it appears that you have to get a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock and it is pretty pricey. Until there are cheap reliable 1 to many USB-C hubs USB-A is not going to go away.
dekhn 5y ago
because inferior tech that lasts a long time has a constant tax on productivity.
- mattl 5y ago
  I think I’m less productive with a dongle to use a USB type A device on my laptop than I would be with a single port.

Why does it need to die?

by mattl 5y ago

Why does it need to die?

The argument is that it's legacy and it will die because USB-C is better is a variety of ways. And in true Apple fashion, Apple is killing it somewhat aggressively. Though it's not just Apple. Something like a Google Pixelbook is USB-C only as well.

rnk 5y ago
The same thing can be said for the unnecessary apple lightning plug - it serves no purpose other than apple selling adapters and blocking usb-c use. Yet it keeps being used. Lots of companies have things with only usb-c but the real problem is not new use, it's the billions of devices with usb-a plugs on them. In my house there are probably 10 usb-c plugs across several computers and 100 usb-a things to plug in.
- ghaff 5y ago
  The main purpose lightning serves is that it removes a barrier to Apple customers upgrading to the next iPhone. Apple will get to USB-C--probably sooner rather than later; I wouldn't bet against this year--but that's actually a case of getting onto a standard even though there's no real advantage right now for Apple customers and some pain.
  - threeseed 5y ago
    Apple won't move to USB-C for the iPhone. They are actively looking at how to transmit data over the Magsafe adapter. Once that happens there will be no ports.
- tinus_hn 5y ago
  The Lightning connector was introduced in 2012 while USB-C was introduced in 2014. My theory is that Apple made commitments to keep supporting the Lightning connector on their phones for a number of years to get manufacturers to create devices with it. Say whatever you want, when it was introduced it was clearly a big improvement over the micro USB connectors everyone else was using. By now it’s holding them back though.

ghshephard 5y ago

There is absolutely zero need for USB-A. None. It does nothing whatsoever that USB-C can't do, and there are ton of things that USB-C can do better. There is no need for two USB "mid sized" plug standards - and obviously USB-C is now the dominant. Almost every single peripheral, device, component, that can run on USB-A runs on USB-C. And there is a huge contingent of devices that could never run on USB-A. As soon as everyone has agreed that USB-A is dead, completely dead, people will cease manufacturing USB-A peripherals, which further enhances the value of a port that almost everyone is now using for everything. Honestly - the USB-A port should have been wiped out a couple years ago - the only reason it didn't is that everyone has this massive legacy of USB-A ports (Hotels, Airports, Airplanes, etc...) that people plug into, which kept them holding onto those legacy peripherals longer than they should have. Also - some weird hardware dongles that haven't been upgraded to USB-C. What we need to do is start seeing how quickly Hotels/Cars/Airplanes/Airports/... start switching over to USB-C. When that happens there will be this massive cascade effect - it will be exponential: 2022 - ~0% of legacy is USB C 2023 - 1% legacy USB-C 2024 - 2% legacy USB-C 2025 - 4% legacy USB-C 2026 - 8% legacy USB-C 2027 - 16% legacy USB-C 2028 - 32% legacy USB-C 2029 - 64% legacy USB-C 2030 - 90% legacy USB-C 2031 - 95% legacy USB-C I'm guessing by 2032, nobody will be carrying legacy USB-A peripherals anymore. Only wildcard will be if there is a USB-next that will replace C. Please don't let that happen before USB-C takes over the world.

kingcharles 5y ago
Also, it always takes three tries to get a USB-A plug into the socket.
- mattl 5y ago
  I have a USB-A Yubikey and I prefer it to the crappy USB-C one that’s just too small.
tzs 5y ago
> There is absolutely zero need for USB-A. None. It does nothing whatsoever that USB-C can't do, and there are ton of things that USB-C can do better. What's the USB-C story nowadays if you have N USB-C peripherals and M USB-C ports where N > M? Most USB-C hubs seem to have one USB-C for connecting to the computer, one USB-C for connecting to a peripheral, and then a bunch of USB-A for connecting to more peripherals. To get something that actually increases the number of USB-C peripherals, especially if more than one of your peripherals needs more than low power, and is reliable it appears that you have to get a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock and it is pretty pricey. Until there are cheap reliable 1 to many USB-C hubs USB-A is not going to go away.

dekhn 5y ago

because inferior tech that lasts a long time has a constant tax on productivity.

mattl 5y ago
I think I’m less productive with a dongle to use a USB type A device on my laptop than I would be with a single port.