6 ms·

Although Lightning Cable is not the first to be bidirectional I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard.

by msoad 13y ago

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
I'm sure they are doing this to preserve their patents, what is the point of an open standard if no one is allowed to use it? I would really love to see a magnetic bi-directional cable eventually for phones/tablets. The Surface one is OK, but it doesn't snap as nicely as I think it could.
- bashou 13y ago
  Then it's not an open one.
  - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
    I don't care about open, I care about good.
keeperofdakeys 13y ago
Lightning has one specific feature that allows it to easily be bidirectional. The pinout can be changed via software, to adapt to any occasion, and essentially manufacture a new plug with a firmware update. This means orientation doesn't matter (without duplicating pins). This is a bit harder with USB, which has specific purposes for each pin.
- ars 13y ago
  It's not that hard to simply swap all the pins in hardware if the connector is reversed. You don't need to able to reassign every single pin to make that possible. Lightning is overdesigned which makes it expensive.
  - jzwinck 13y ago
    You could say that the previous iPod dock connector was over-designed. But it wasn't, because it survived many years and many devices, with only a handful in between (like some iPod nanos) not being amenable to it years after its creation. We do not yet know what fate awaits Lightning. The odds are certainly tilted against it. Not only is Android popular and universally using Micro-USB (unlike when the first iPhone came out and phones had all kinds of plugs), but "smart wires" are increasingly antiquated: if you want to pipe music from your phone to your car, wouldn't you rather use WiFi than a cord? Sure, you need to plug in to charge much of the time, but now you can hand the thing to someone in the backseat and let them change songs. And any dumb USB port will charge any phone these days, which is good enough.
    - ars 13y ago
      > You could say that the previous iPod dock connector was over-designed. But it wasn't, because it survived many years and many devices That's not the test of overdesigned. It's overdesigned if the cost doesn't provide sufficient benefit - and it clearly didn't.
      - snom380 13y ago
        It clearly didn't? I'd say the iPod dock ecosystem and all the optional cables (like VGA, HDMI, digital out etc) more than justified the cost of the 30 pin connector.
        anologwintermut 13y ago
        And I assume you believe the previous success of Internet Explorer demonstrated the superiority of Internet Explorer and not Windows. The connector succeeded because the IPod was extremely popular and then Apple got to leverage network effects.
      - rsynnott 13y ago
        > It's overdesigned if the cost doesn't provide sufficient benefit - and it clearly didn't. Really? The cost for a lightning to HDMI cable tends to fall in between that of an MHL to HDMI and a Slimport to HDMI adaptor.
asynchronous13 13y ago
> I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard. Lightning is just Apple's marketing term for Intel's Thunderbolt interface. The standard is available from Intel, and if it were not it would be more appropriate to direct your anger at Intel.
- mikeash 13y ago
  Thunderbolt is Intel's external, hotswappable PCI-e interface found on many Apple laptops. Lightning is Apple's proprietary interface found on iOS devices. Aside from being named after different aspects of the same natural phenomenon, they have nothing in common.
  - spiritplumber 13y ago
    Thunderbolt and lightning? Very very frightening.
  - asynchronous13 13y ago
    Not sure how I got those so thoroughly mixed up, thanks for the clarification.
    - mikeash 13y ago
      Well, being named after the same natural phenomenon is confusing enough. I often have to stop and think which is which. It's an understandable mistake.
- nwh 13y ago
  No, that's Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is the PCI interface, Lightning is the alternate USB connector.
  - sneak 13y ago
    Lightning is not simply an alternate USB connector, or they never would have done it.
- 13y ago

Although Lightning Cable is not the first to be bidirectional I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard.

by msoad 13y ago

Although Lightning Cable is not the first to be bidirectional I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago

I'm sure they are doing this to preserve their patents, what is the point of an open standard if no one is allowed to use it? I would really love to see a magnetic bi-directional cable eventually for phones/tablets. The Surface one is OK, but it doesn't snap as nicely as I think it could.

bashou 13y ago
Then it's not an open one.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  I don't care about open, I care about good.

keeperofdakeys 13y ago

Lightning has one specific feature that allows it to easily be bidirectional. The pinout can be changed via software, to adapt to any occasion, and essentially manufacture a new plug with a firmware update. This means orientation doesn't matter (without duplicating pins). This is a bit harder with USB, which has specific purposes for each pin.

ars 13y ago
It's not that hard to simply swap all the pins in hardware if the connector is reversed. You don't need to able to reassign every single pin to make that possible. Lightning is overdesigned which makes it expensive.
- jzwinck 13y ago
  You could say that the previous iPod dock connector was over-designed. But it wasn't, because it survived many years and many devices, with only a handful in between (like some iPod nanos) not being amenable to it years after its creation. We do not yet know what fate awaits Lightning. The odds are certainly tilted against it. Not only is Android popular and universally using Micro-USB (unlike when the first iPhone came out and phones had all kinds of plugs), but "smart wires" are increasingly antiquated: if you want to pipe music from your phone to your car, wouldn't you rather use WiFi than a cord? Sure, you need to plug in to charge much of the time, but now you can hand the thing to someone in the backseat and let them change songs. And any dumb USB port will charge any phone these days, which is good enough.
  - ars 13y ago
    > You could say that the previous iPod dock connector was over-designed. But it wasn't, because it survived many years and many devices That's not the test of overdesigned. It's overdesigned if the cost doesn't provide sufficient benefit - and it clearly didn't.
    - snom380 13y ago
      It clearly didn't? I'd say the iPod dock ecosystem and all the optional cables (like VGA, HDMI, digital out etc) more than justified the cost of the 30 pin connector.
      - anologwintermut 13y ago
        And I assume you believe the previous success of Internet Explorer demonstrated the superiority of Internet Explorer and not Windows. The connector succeeded because the IPod was extremely popular and then Apple got to leverage network effects.
    - rsynnott 13y ago
      > It's overdesigned if the cost doesn't provide sufficient benefit - and it clearly didn't. Really? The cost for a lightning to HDMI cable tends to fall in between that of an MHL to HDMI and a Slimport to HDMI adaptor.

asynchronous13 13y ago

> I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard. Lightning is just Apple's marketing term for Intel's Thunderbolt interface. The standard is available from Intel, and if it were not it would be more appropriate to direct your anger at Intel.

mikeash 13y ago
Thunderbolt is Intel's external, hotswappable PCI-e interface found on many Apple laptops. Lightning is Apple's proprietary interface found on iOS devices. Aside from being named after different aspects of the same natural phenomenon, they have nothing in common.
- spiritplumber 13y ago
  Thunderbolt and lightning? Very very frightening.
- asynchronous13 13y ago
  Not sure how I got those so thoroughly mixed up, thanks for the clarification.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    Well, being named after the same natural phenomenon is confusing enough. I often have to stop and think which is which. It's an understandable mistake.
nwh 13y ago
No, that's Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is the PCI interface, Lightning is the alternate USB connector.
- sneak 13y ago
  Lightning is not simply an alternate USB connector, or they never would have done it.
13y ago