4 ms·

That’s an oversimplification of the old world. We had different connectors that would or would not work depending on your specific application. Some connectors

That’s an oversimplification of the old world. We had different connectors that would or would not work depending on your specific application. Some connectors would only have a smaller set of pins for restricted use cases (charging only, sound only etc.) than the full standard, you still had the quality and ratings issue (think ethernet cables), some companies would still recycle connectors used in other contexts for their specific purpose (a sheer round connector is one of those: there must be hundreds or proprietary cables with a round connector). And of course you’d have adaptors to make a connector work in an equivalent setup. Sure more shapes would make any of these issues limited to a specific shape, but there was still plenty of room to get it wrong. All in all I think USB C is still a step forward.

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
> We had different connectors that would or would not work depending on your specific application. Some connectors would only have a smaller set of pins for restricted use cases (charging only, sound only etc.) than the full standard, you still had the quality and ratings issue (think ethernet cables), some companies would still recycle connectors used in other contexts for their specific purpose (a sheer round connector is one of those: there must be hundreds or proprietary cables with a round connector). Er, but isn't that exactly the problem with USB now? Not all USB ports and all USB cables are interchangeable, some devices use certain pins for restricted use cases (charging only, sound only), cables and devices have painfully varying quality (https://www.pcmag.com/news/poorly-designed-usb-c-cable-kills-google-engineers-laptop https://www.pcmag.com/news/poorly-designed-usb-c-cable-kills... , https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/google-engineer-leaves-scathing-reviews-of-dodgy-usb-type-c-cables-on-amazon/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/google-engineer-leav...), and companies reuse the one connector without actually being fully compatible (Nintendo, I'm looking at you).
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  It totally is. I even have a Xiamo robot toy that uses the USB-C shape connector over a completely proprietary connection (non of the voltage or protocol match) The difference is it's one less issue to deal with: we don't have to fret about the connector shape anymore. There's also a fighting chance to have "all around" cables that match 90% of what you expect to be using it for.

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago

> We had different connectors that would or would not work depending on your specific application. Some connectors would only have a smaller set of pins for restricted use cases (charging only, sound only etc.) than the full standard, you still had the quality and ratings issue (think ethernet cables), some companies would still recycle connectors used in other contexts for their specific purpose (a sheer round connector is one of those: there must be hundreds or proprietary cables with a round connector). Er, but isn't that exactly the problem with USB now? Not all USB ports and all USB cables are interchangeable, some devices use certain pins for restricted use cases (charging only, sound only), cables and devices have painfully varying quality (https://www.pcmag.com/news/poorly-designed-usb-c-cable-kills-google-engineers-laptop https://www.pcmag.com/news/poorly-designed-usb-c-cable-kills... , https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/google-engineer-leaves-scathing-reviews-of-dodgy-usb-type-c-cables-on-amazon/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/google-engineer-leav...), and companies reuse the one connector without actually being fully compatible (Nintendo, I'm looking at you).

makeitdouble 4y ago
It totally is. I even have a Xiamo robot toy that uses the USB-C shape connector over a completely proprietary connection (non of the voltage or protocol match) The difference is it's one less issue to deal with: we don't have to fret about the connector shape anymore. There's also a fighting chance to have "all around" cables that match 90% of what you expect to be using it for.