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I'm starting to think that it is all purposefully designed to confuse the consumer. There is no reason, absolutely no reason at all, that the same cable/port ca
by rrgok 4y ago
I'm starting to think that it is all purposefully designed to confuse the consumer. There is no reason, absolutely no reason at all, that the same cable/port can sometime transport only video, sometime only audio, sometime only raw data, sometime only power and sometime all of them put together or some combination of them. We can connect to a server to other side of the world or watch movie from youtube with the same cable (Ethernet, heck with the same connection) while writing a comment in HN, but somehow connecting a monitor and usb keyboard needs N different type of cables/port.
- cowtools 4y agoIt's not just about the cable, it's about the controller chip on either side of the cable, and the bandwidth (pcie, etc.) attached to the controller. You can't make a standard that always does everything while being afforable enough to be used in low-cost, low-margin devices
- colordrops 4y agoYeah you can, enforce labeling and colors, maybe even an extra nub that only fits certain ports if capabilities aren't needed.
- notacoward 4y ago> There is no reason, absolutely no reason at all There is a reason: cost. A lower-capability cable is cheaper to make, and people don't want to pay more when the lower capability (often just power) is all they need. If every cable had to be made to the absolute highest spec, people would complain about that too. There are also economies of scale etc. from using the same connector. Yes, the situation is bad. Worse than it needs to be. Better branding and labeling and OS diagnostics would all help. But "absolutely no reason" is still either naive or exaggeration.