4 ms·
You can do a while lifetimes work, and yet sometimes it's a tiny action like this which can have the biggest benefit to mankind. Just think how many billions o
by londons_explore 10mo ago
You can do a while lifetimes work, and yet sometimes it's a tiny action like this which can have the biggest benefit to mankind.
Just think how many billions of times someone has avoided pulling up to the wrong side of the pump because of this arrow - literal lifetimes of effort saved.
- lostlogin 10mo agoThe person (committee?) who came up with USB A needs sanctions. And Apple Needs more, for putting power buttons and key ports at that back.
- pa7ch 10mo agowhats wrong with usb-a? I feels more sturdy and less likely to have connection issues then usb-c in my experience.
- lostlogin 10mo ago> whats wrong with usb-a? Which way up it should go.
- sitharus 10mo agoThe other way
- onion2k 10mo agoNo, the other other way.
- hexbin010 10mo agoIt's almost impressive that they designed a port that feels so wrong when you actually get it right
- lostlogin 10mo agoI worked in an IT department at one time and encountered USB-A plugs forced into Ethernet ports. It seems so unlikely that I’ve just searched it to see if it’s possible, but am getting no hits.
- fragmede 10mo agono, they definitely fit. They're just awkwardly exactly the right size that while you're trying to plug things in punched over under the desk and crawling around and feeling around the backside; it just yeah.
- lefra 10mo agoMy laptop has one of these ethernet ports that half close when not in use. It doesn't work anymore because someone mistook it for the USB port that's right next to it when distractingly plugging their keyboard in.
- flopsamjetsam 10mo agoThis reminds me so much of the old story about how a user called support to tell them their floppy drive wasn't working. When the tech got there, the computer had no floppy drives, and the user had been forcing the disks in the gap between the drive blank plates.
- schmuckonwheels 10mo agoPS/2, which USB all but replaced, solved this by visually keying one side of the connector as flat.
- gambiting 10mo agoAnd I have more than once bent the tiny pins by trying to orient the plug by feel, and it was a nightmare to fix it afterwards.
- 1718627440 10mo agoAnd USB solved it by having the logo on the upper side.
- rssoconnor 10mo agoWhen I'm trying to plug my PS/2 keyboard into the port in back of my computer which I cannot see, instead of needing to try two orientations, I need to try every orientation.
- estimator7292 10mo agoYou've never ruined a PS/2 port by rotating the plug to find the right orientation?
- thaumasiotes 10mo agoIt's very weird that USB-C solved the problem of "we can't tell which way to insert the plug" by mandating that both orientations should work, as opposed to just making the exterior of the plug as asymmetrical as the interior.
- asplake 10mo agoLess weird as they get smaller. Call it an accessibility thing if you like, but I think it's better for everyone and congrats to them. Isn't this what technology is supposed to do, make things easier?
- dxdm 10mo agoI don't find it weird. Not even having to work out a correct orientation is a great convenience. The micro-USB connection (or is it "min"?), which I need to fiddle with to charge some older gadgets, is a testament to how annoying an "asymetric exterior" plug can still be.
- lostlogin 10mo agoWith micro USB you end up with damaged plugs and ports in my experience.
- rounce 10mo agoYes, micro USB is far too flimsy for a lot of things it’s used for from what I’ve observed. The connector seems to have a lot of leverage for ripping its tracks off, but often not a great mechanical connection to the board.
- iainmerrick 10mo agoYou mean something like HDMI? If you’ve ever tried to plug one of those into the back of a TV, you’ll know it’s still pretty difficult to get it the right way up.
- thaumasiotes 10mo ago
- thih9 10mo agoWhere the logo is.
- lostlogin 10mo agoAnd when the port is vertical and you can’t see it? I’m surprised how tolerable people seemed to find Apples rear ports.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- silisili 10mo agoSimple. The third way you try, always.
- lproven 10mo agoMacro-scale quantum hardware: USB-A is a spin-1.5 connector.
- bmicraft 10mo agoThe side with the holes. That's true for 95% of devices, with one of the few major exceptions being cheap chinese powerbanks
- saagarjha 10mo agoWhich requires being able to see the plug.
- YeahThisIsMe 10mo agoAs with most plugs that came before it.
- saagarjha 10mo agoThey were not externally symmetric
- 1718627440 10mo agoAlso the side that has the logo on.
- wlesieutre 10mo agoOr if you’re plugging into a desktop where the ports are vertical
- bmicraft 10mo agoThere is usually still a concept of front. Most desktops if laid down would be laying on their right side (so the motherboard & cpu aren't upside down). From there you can still pretty easily tell how the port is oriented without looking.
- perilunar 10mo agoUSB-C is better than A in that it works in two orientations instead of one, but the correct answer for connectors should be any orientation — the best connectors are cylindrical connectors: barrel plugs, RCA, BNC, banana, phono, TRS, TRRS, etc. Just make them round.
- skywhopper 10mo agoMan, there’s nothing more satisfying than the feel of a quarter-inch TRS plug slotting in to a high quality jack. Truly one of the great plug designs.
- estimator7292 10mo agoWell, more like 1.5 orientations because we STILL have devices that only work with the cable in one of two valid orientations.
- echoangle 10mo agoWould it be practical to have a round port as a universal connector? USB C uses a lot of pins, how would that work? Like an audio plug with a lot of rings?
- perilunar 10mo agoI think it would be practical with glass fibre. Two wires/rings for power, and fibre for data. Something like a Mini-TOSLINK, but even smaller. Ideally the plug would be barely thicker than the cable.
- qwertytyyuu 10mo agoNo the people who decided that usb 3.2 gen 2x2 and usb 4 version 2.0 gen 4x2 were acceptable names are the ones who should be sanctioned
- stephenr 10mo agoWhich rear facing "key port" on a Mac are you suggesting should be on the front?
- lostlogin 10mo ago> Which rear facing "key port" on a Mac are you suggesting should be on the front? USB. I used iMacs, mini and pro machines. Any ports in the front would be nice. My m4 mini does have some front ports. It’s less of an issue now with usb-c but the iMac presumably still rear mounts them.
- stephenr 10mo agoThe Mac Studio has two of 6 TB/USB-C ports on the front, and has since inception. So does the Mac Pro (well technically they're on the top now) and has on most models since the G5 PowerMac 20 years ago; The single model without front/top ports was replaced in 2019. So does the Mac mini has two front facing ports now. So your complaint is essentially about the extremely minimalist, consumer-oriented iMac, or maybe older Mac minis. Ok. Don't buy an iMac or an old Mac mini then.
- lostlogin 10mo agoWhen you plug in a USB stick, surely you want it on the front? Do you get around this with an adaptor or something? My use case seems common. The bulk of my usage of their desktops was during the ultra minimum list era that you mention. I mostly love their machines but some of the form-over-function is rough. Presumably Pros don’t need access to the power button either.
- stephenr 10mo agoOn the rare occasion I plug in a usb flash drive (I assume that's what you mean by "stick") I use the usb-c end. On the even rarer occasion I use it with some device that doesn't have usb-c (this is actually just hypothetical I've never done this in practice) I turn the flash drive around and use the usb-a end. It's been clear that usb-c is the future for a decade now. How on earth do you still have flash drives that are usb-a only? I probably use the power button once a month, and I'd say this is the norm for most developers/similar people. It's no harder than accessing the menu button/toggle stick on the back of my dell display.
- jstanley 10mo agoWhat's wrong with pulling up to the wrong side of the pump? I do it all the time when the petrol station is busy, just pull the hose over to the other side and fuel the car anyway.
- CoastalCoder 10mo agoThe hose won't always reach.
- jstanley 10mo agoIn my experience that's only true in TV adverts from my childhood. I've never had one unable to reach in real life.
- cromka 10mo agoTry in Europe
- paganel 10mo agoI'm in Europe, in case you're on the "wrong" side of the pump you just have to make sure that you park the car a little further, so you'd get the pump hose through the back and on to the other side without scratching the car's paint. That's all it is to it. I'm from Romania and I've driven (and hence re-fueled) my car all the way from Bretagne, France, to Peloponnese, Greece, never had a problem. I also don't know anything about any "arrow" signalling anything in my dashboard, maybe it's only on the US-made cars, I wouldn't know cause I generally know on which side I have to fuel my car.
- bdbdbdb 10mo agoI'm also in Europe, I drive a ford, and the only fuel arrow on my dash actually points to the wrong side for filling
- 10mo ago
- NedF 10mo ago[dead]