5 ms·

Idea: Lets give them different plugs so they don't fit if they don't match. [current variant of "suggest previous status quo as improvement"]

gedy 3y ago
But see there's no room (when we bevel the laptop edges up to give a false impression of thinness)
marcosdumay 3y ago
They have the same plug so we can choose anyone we want to use. It's way better than the previous "oh, no, my computer only has 1 parallel port, we can't connect this one".
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- jon-wood 3y ago
  Annoyingly while that’s true on Apple devices there’s a plethora of cheap laptops where only one of the USB-C ports is capable of DisplayPort, and a different one can do USB-PD. Good luck working out which is which.
  - izacus 3y ago
    And there's many more laptops where all of them work. And on all of them the ports are clearly marked and will always support at least USB3 speeds.
fassssst 3y ago
Terrible idea. Most of the time I just want to charge stuff, which any old USB-C mostly works fine for up to like 60 watts. And very few peripherals actually need more than like USB 2.0 speeds.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
jack_h 3y ago
All of this talk about testing and labeling doesn't make sense to me or likely any layperson. I don't want to have to know what capabilities a cable needs and then compare it to a label and I really don't want to have to test a cable to see if it will work for my intended use case. I want to be able to grab any USB cable and have it work regardless of my intended use. If that is impossible because the standard is so complex then we really should have different connectors. The entire point of it being universal is that regardless of circumstance it will work. Somehow that has morphed into the connector being universal while the actual utility of each cable is not; the latter of which is the only thing people really care about.
- izacus 3y ago
  Not being able to plug a mouse or a keyboard into a 40GBps USB4.0 laptop connector just because those devices only need the USB2.0 protocol is a dumbarse idea. Just like having to pay for a 40GBps USB4 controller in a mouse which needs USB 1 speeds. Despite all the whining here from "hackers", the current situation is undoubtedly better.
thomastjeffery 3y ago
So long as the port itself is full-featured, it's good to keep the plugs the same. The real issue here is with our marketplaces. Amazon in particular is notorious for allowing counterfeits with very little recourse available to the end customer. This has heavily incentivized uncertified products, because there is not enough value in accurate advertising to pay for certification in the first place. Shoppers who care know to trust reviews instead of listings. Shoppers who do get a fraudulent cable will just get a refund; and the seller will just keep selling bullshit. The marketplaces that care about accuracy love this situation. They get to take a larger cut from heavily overpriced cables, because they can brag about certification. Why would Best Buy ever try to get more competition? That would only hurt their margins.

gedy 3y ago

But see there's no room (when we bevel the laptop edges up to give a false impression of thinness)

marcosdumay 3y ago

They have the same plug so we can choose anyone we want to use. It's way better than the previous "oh, no, my computer only has 1 parallel port, we can't connect this one".

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
jon-wood 3y ago
Annoyingly while that’s true on Apple devices there’s a plethora of cheap laptops where only one of the USB-C ports is capable of DisplayPort, and a different one can do USB-PD. Good luck working out which is which.
- izacus 3y ago
  And there's many more laptops where all of them work. And on all of them the ports are clearly marked and will always support at least USB3 speeds.

fassssst 3y ago

Terrible idea. Most of the time I just want to charge stuff, which any old USB-C mostly works fine for up to like 60 watts. And very few peripherals actually need more than like USB 2.0 speeds.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

jack_h 3y ago

All of this talk about testing and labeling doesn't make sense to me or likely any layperson. I don't want to have to know what capabilities a cable needs and then compare it to a label and I really don't want to have to test a cable to see if it will work for my intended use case. I want to be able to grab any USB cable and have it work regardless of my intended use. If that is impossible because the standard is so complex then we really should have different connectors. The entire point of it being universal is that regardless of circumstance it will work. Somehow that has morphed into the connector being universal while the actual utility of each cable is not; the latter of which is the only thing people really care about.

izacus 3y ago
Not being able to plug a mouse or a keyboard into a 40GBps USB4.0 laptop connector just because those devices only need the USB2.0 protocol is a dumbarse idea. Just like having to pay for a 40GBps USB4 controller in a mouse which needs USB 1 speeds. Despite all the whining here from "hackers", the current situation is undoubtedly better.

thomastjeffery 3y ago

So long as the port itself is full-featured, it's good to keep the plugs the same. The real issue here is with our marketplaces. Amazon in particular is notorious for allowing counterfeits with very little recourse available to the end customer. This has heavily incentivized uncertified products, because there is not enough value in accurate advertising to pay for certification in the first place. Shoppers who care know to trust reviews instead of listings. Shoppers who do get a fraudulent cable will just get a refund; and the seller will just keep selling bullshit. The marketplaces that care about accuracy love this situation. They get to take a larger cut from heavily overpriced cables, because they can brag about certification. Why would Best Buy ever try to get more competition? That would only hurt their margins.