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Why couldn't it have been made to work in either orientation? Backwards compatibility? Apple patents?
by gcv 13y ago
Why couldn't it have been made to work in either orientation? Backwards compatibility? Apple patents?
- grandalf 13y agoIt could but the connector would end up costing more (or would require a smarter circuit).
- toomuchtodo 13y agoI.e. Lightning.
- mikeash 13y agoTypical consumer electronics: save 5 cents per unit, and force the end user to spend orders of magnitude more than that in lost time fumbling with the thing. Of course, I don't blame the manufacturers. It is ultimately the buyers themselves who make this choice, by preferring price over almost anything else.
- oscilloscope 13y agoIt is backwards compatible with micro usb cables.
- vacri 13y agoThis being said, the backwards compatibility of the next generation will look fearsome.
- mcphage 13y agoIt could have been backwards compatible and reversable—two micro usb ports next to each other, rotated 180 degrees.
- oftenwrong 13y agoThat seems like a great idea, but then new cases would have to be accounted for. For example, what happens when someone plugs two micro usb cables into the one micro usb3 connector? Dealing with that would add complexity and therefore expense and size.