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Around five years or so ago, I had lots of gadgets, all using Micro-USB. Life was good, I had purchased a job lot of cables and made sure every location on my h

by billpg 4y ago

Around five years or so ago, I had lots of gadgets, all using Micro-USB. Life was good, I had purchased a job lot of cables and made sure every location on my house, car and desk at work had more than enough cables so any gadget would be ready to be charged up. Then I bought a new phone. I had a USB-C port. Suddenly, I couldn't charge it up just anywhere. If that phone had a Micro-USB version, I'd have chosen that one in a heartbeat. Yes, USB-C is nice. Better than Micro-USB. So good that it compensates for the hassle? No.

causi 4y ago
Well, better in most ways. It's worse in a couple of minor ones. It's larger, so particularly tiny devices still come with microUSB charge ports. It also gets smooshed flat if you happen to step on it, which is a problem I had my first few months with a type-C phone.
skohan 4y ago
I would argue it is good enough it compensates for the hassle. I think USB-C is one of the first "good enough" connectors we have had for the arbitrary use-case. It's reversible. It's suitable for high-power and high-bandwidth use-cases. It's robust. micro-USB works ok for charging small devices, but would it really make sense to replace USB-A with it for plugging peripherals into your PC for example?
- billpg 4y ago
  Fair point, but my lived experience of USB-C is that several of my Micro-USB cables dotted around now have little converter heads added. My tablets and battery packs (and other gizmos) still need the Micro-USB port so I can't just replace the cables. Yes, being able to plug in the connector both ways around is nice, but it wasn't that inconvenient not to be able to do that, especially when put against the inconvenience of needing these extra heads. I can certainly imagine someone having similar frustrations when Mini-USB gave way to Micro-USB. I can only hope that when USB-D connectors come around, there's more than only small incremental improvements to get me on board.
  - skohan 4y ago
    But again, this is if you think of USB-C as a replacement for Mini-USB and Micro-USB. USB-A remained an uncontested standard for roughly 30 years, and is now gradually being replaced by USB-C. If USB-C has the same longevity, and can also replace small-form-factor connectors, that's a pretty big win right? It's not too bad to put up with a connector change 2-4 times in your life.

by billpg 4y ago

causi 4y ago

Well, better in most ways. It's worse in a couple of minor ones. It's larger, so particularly tiny devices still come with microUSB charge ports. It also gets smooshed flat if you happen to step on it, which is a problem I had my first few months with a type-C phone.

skohan 4y ago

I would argue it is good enough it compensates for the hassle. I think USB-C is one of the first "good enough" connectors we have had for the arbitrary use-case. It's reversible. It's suitable for high-power and high-bandwidth use-cases. It's robust. micro-USB works ok for charging small devices, but would it really make sense to replace USB-A with it for plugging peripherals into your PC for example?

billpg 4y ago
Fair point, but my lived experience of USB-C is that several of my Micro-USB cables dotted around now have little converter heads added. My tablets and battery packs (and other gizmos) still need the Micro-USB port so I can't just replace the cables. Yes, being able to plug in the connector both ways around is nice, but it wasn't that inconvenient not to be able to do that, especially when put against the inconvenience of needing these extra heads. I can certainly imagine someone having similar frustrations when Mini-USB gave way to Micro-USB. I can only hope that when USB-D connectors come around, there's more than only small incremental improvements to get me on board.
- skohan 4y ago
  But again, this is if you think of USB-C as a replacement for Mini-USB and Micro-USB. USB-A remained an uncontested standard for roughly 30 years, and is now gradually being replaced by USB-C. If USB-C has the same longevity, and can also replace small-form-factor connectors, that's a pretty big win right? It's not too bad to put up with a connector change 2-4 times in your life.