5 ms·

They did! I’ve posted this comment before: To use any of the USB-IF logos (including the official ones that clarify power and signal compatibility) a product

by nrp 3y ago

They did! I’ve posted this comment before: To use any of the USB-IF logos (including the official ones that clarify power and signal compatibility) a product has to go through the certification process: https://www.usb.org/logo-license https://www.usb.org/logo-license USB-IF also maintains a list of products that are certified: https://www.usb.org/products https://www.usb.org/products The question then is, “Why is this still confusing?”. The answer is probably that the popular retail and e-commerce channels are flooded with products that aren’t certified, and consumers don’t realize that a certification process even exists.

ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
This is true, but it’s been my experience, that scammers don’t pay any attention to stuff like that. It’s really up to the distributors and promoters, to vet the products they push, but we all know how well that’s going…
thomastjeffery 3y ago
The problem is that you can flood the market with 2 categories of product: 1. A cheap version that didn't bother to get certified (to save cost). 2. A fraudulent version that relies on the existence of a poorly regulated market (like Amazon) that allows "mistakes" in advertising details. That market is already flooded with cheap uncertified cables that do work, making it trivially easy to falsely advertise cables that don't work. What needs to happen is for USB-IF to minimize #1 by making their standardization process as accessible (and affordable) as possible. Otherwise, the bulk of cables that customers are willing to buy will be uncertified.
- eschneider 3y ago
  This seems like a business opportunity. It should be straightforward (not _easy_, but straightforward) to manufacture high quality, reasonably priced cables and sell them direct. Establish a rep for consistent quality & fast shipping and carve out the 'customers who give a shit' market. Once you've got a good rep, scale up.
  - thomastjeffery 3y ago
    The problem is your interface with those customers. The customers we are talking about both care about cost and are willing to put more effort into their search to find an affordable quality product. From that customer's perspective, the best method is to look through Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, etc. listings to find every product that claims their desired spec under a reasonable price ceiling. After that, the customer need only filter out sketchy listings. This is most reliably done by checking reviews. It's also done somewhat by checking the coherency of listing details: self-contradicting details are a common method for fraudulent sellers to filter for unscrupulous victims - the same process our scrupulous customer is performing here, played in reverse. So what can you do as a seller to reach this customer? Make detailed listings, and get reviews. Any more work than that is, unfortunately, a wasted effort.
    - eschneider 3y ago
      Word of mouth _works_, but takes some time. You want to get to the point where when non-tech folks ask their tech friends what USB cables to get, they just send them to your site because they know everything's good there.

by nrp 3y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago

This is true, but it’s been my experience, that scammers don’t pay any attention to stuff like that. It’s really up to the distributors and promoters, to vet the products they push, but we all know how well that’s going…

thomastjeffery 3y ago

The problem is that you can flood the market with 2 categories of product: 1. A cheap version that didn't bother to get certified (to save cost). 2. A fraudulent version that relies on the existence of a poorly regulated market (like Amazon) that allows "mistakes" in advertising details. That market is already flooded with cheap uncertified cables that do work, making it trivially easy to falsely advertise cables that don't work. What needs to happen is for USB-IF to minimize #1 by making their standardization process as accessible (and affordable) as possible. Otherwise, the bulk of cables that customers are willing to buy will be uncertified.

eschneider 3y ago
This seems like a business opportunity. It should be straightforward (not _easy_, but straightforward) to manufacture high quality, reasonably priced cables and sell them direct. Establish a rep for consistent quality & fast shipping and carve out the 'customers who give a shit' market. Once you've got a good rep, scale up.
- thomastjeffery 3y ago
  The problem is your interface with those customers. The customers we are talking about both care about cost and are willing to put more effort into their search to find an affordable quality product. From that customer's perspective, the best method is to look through Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, etc. listings to find every product that claims their desired spec under a reasonable price ceiling. After that, the customer need only filter out sketchy listings. This is most reliably done by checking reviews. It's also done somewhat by checking the coherency of listing details: self-contradicting details are a common method for fraudulent sellers to filter for unscrupulous victims - the same process our scrupulous customer is performing here, played in reverse. So what can you do as a seller to reach this customer? Make detailed listings, and get reviews. Any more work than that is, unfortunately, a wasted effort.
  - eschneider 3y ago
    Word of mouth _works_, but takes some time. You want to get to the point where when non-tech folks ask their tech friends what USB cables to get, they just send them to your site because they know everything's good there.