Not ideal for sure but I don't see the cable disaster you claim, specifically what clear improvement you would have with multiplication of connectors. Connecto

Not ideal for sure but I don't see the cable disaster you claim, specifically what clear improvement you would have with multiplication of connectors. Connectors, cheap and reliable are hard to design, and there's that much solution that works, and economics of scale works wonderfully by this kind of mass production (the good enough converges to reliable cheap). Also, the backward compatibility is real, and not to be dismissed too lightly. Say, for an USB-A connector, would really go one way where a USB 3 cable and device should NOT work with your older computer ? There will be waste, there will be disgruntlement, but at real diagnostic will be possible (instead of the vague indications like «use provided cable» we have for HDMI and DisplayPort). For power, you can already find cable with a mini LED display on the plug to show max wattage once plugged. Limited cables will quickly have label to show their specific capability (4K/8K, for PD only, 100W 60W), for cables you buy. General case for cables provided by manufacturer is, you keep you cable with the device, no real confusion here. I know many have the cable drawer full of just-in-case that never comes that would dream to have it blissfully replaced by unlabeled USB-C cables, but this is just not how general people handle the problem. They keep the cable with the device, and learn what they need before or after buying a replacement, or better, asking someone in a shop, those still exists for all I know.