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USB started out as a nice clean interface at least far as the cabling was concerned. Originally it had just two kinds of plugs ("A" and "B"). But the number of

USB started out as a nice clean interface at least far as the cabling was concerned. Originally it had just two kinds of plugs ("A" and "B"). But the number of USB connector types is getting out of control. I'm sure there are good technical reasons as to why they couldn't re-use the same connectors for higher-speeds and greater power, but in some cases the changes do seem gratuitous. For example, introducing a mini-USB connector and then micro-USB seems to have been poorly planned. The connectors are similar-looking and so close in size that it causes endless confusion. I don't understand why they couldn't have standardized on either the mini or the micro instead of having both.

JoshTriplett 12y ago
USB type C is actually an effort to fix that across the board: the cable can be symmetric (C on both ends), all type C ports have the equivalent of on-the-go support, it's as small as micro-B so thin devices can use it, and it supports fast charging with enough power for a laptop. Hopefully, new devices will have only USB type C ports and nothing else.
- tantalor 12y ago
  http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/
  - bronson 12y ago
    Downvoted because enough is enough! The "14 competing standards" comic was really funny the first few hundred times it was snarked into HN comments.
    - nobrains 12y ago
      But this time it fits perfectly.
      - bronson 12y ago
        No, to fit perfectly, the type C plug would have been invented to cover the use cases of all of the the previous plugs. That was not the motivation.
  - sjwright 12y ago
    Downvoted because it's not even relevant. This new USB standard was not implemented to merge the use cases of existing standards as per the cartoon narrative. Its purpose is to add new functionality not available in any prior USB standard.
  - dalek_cannes 12y ago
    Downvoted because this has become an almost knee-jerk reaction against any attempt at consolidating or unifying multiple standards, which should be the goal.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
duskwuff 12y ago
Micro-USB was intended to entirely replace Mini-USB. While some devices do still use Mini-USB, it's basically deprecated at this point. (You'll note, for instance, that there's no Mini-USB3.)
- xorcist 12y ago
  I recently bought a new camera. They were all equipped with mini-usb. It's standard now, and shows no sign of disappearing.
  - icelancer 12y ago
    Agreed. Mini-USB is very popular in the digital camera industry.
    - sauere 12y ago
      Yup. And good old, fat USB B is still seen on most printers and hard drives.
      - icelancer 12y ago
        Yeah, now that you mention it. Never thought about that. USB 3.0 B is on my external hard drive enclosure. I wonder if there are ANY printers that use Micro-USB? I've never seen one.
  - smackfu 12y ago
    It's a deprecated standard as of 2007, so I'm not sure what can be done by the standards body to stop people using it.
- kolev 12y ago
  Talking about USB 3, the micro-USB 3.0 connector is just terrible!
  - Adaptive 12y ago
krschultz 12y ago
It was worse 3-4 years ago, pretty much every device today uses micro USB B connectors. There used to be mini-USB A & B, for a total of 3 small size connectors, plus the full size A & B. I'm not sure what definition of 'universal' yields 5 physically incompatible connectors, but I'll take 1 to rule them all any day.
- bronson 12y ago
  Everybody agrees that the mini plug was a mistake. For better or for worse, the USB IF would like to pretend like it never happened.
  - throwketchup 12y ago
    Which is too bad because it is the connector used on almost all sport GPSs, many bicycle head and tail lights, as well as many generations of Canon still cameras, not to mention most non-Apple MP3 players. For better or worse, mini B plugs are in practice the most common connector on things which are not cell phones.
- cnvogel 12y ago
  Have you ever seen a mini-USB A connector out there in the real world? Or "Micro-A"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mini_usb_AB.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mini_usb_AB.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Micro-A_USB_port.jpeg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Micro-A_USB_port.jpeg I for sure haven't.
  - adl 12y ago
    I have. four years ago, I bought a bluetooth car adapter that you could clip in the driver's visor (can't remember the model, but it was not a popular one) from BestBuy that had the weird one Mini USB A in the first photo. It was a PITA to charge it, and I lost the cable.
bryanlarsen 12y ago
And we're back to a nice clean interface. In the future, the only thing that won't be using a USB type C connector is Apple products. Everything else will have type C connectors and only type C connectors. Your laptop will have 3-4 type C connectors, and won't have anything else, not even power or DiplayPort. Tablets, phones, etc., same thing. Every monitor will become a docking station. Every cable will be identical. It's not quite utopia, of course. Cheap type-C cables will be a scourge. They'll work great at USB2 speeds, slow down USB3 devices and won't work when plugged into your monitor.

JoshTriplett 12y ago

USB type C is actually an effort to fix that across the board: the cable can be symmetric (C on both ends), all type C ports have the equivalent of on-the-go support, it's as small as micro-B so thin devices can use it, and it supports fast charging with enough power for a laptop. Hopefully, new devices will have only USB type C ports and nothing else.

tantalor 12y ago
http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/
- bronson 12y ago
  Downvoted because enough is enough! The "14 competing standards" comic was really funny the first few hundred times it was snarked into HN comments.
  - nobrains 12y ago
    But this time it fits perfectly.
    - bronson 12y ago
      No, to fit perfectly, the type C plug would have been invented to cover the use cases of all of the the previous plugs. That was not the motivation.
- sjwright 12y ago
  Downvoted because it's not even relevant. This new USB standard was not implemented to merge the use cases of existing standards as per the cartoon narrative. Its purpose is to add new functionality not available in any prior USB standard.
- dalek_cannes 12y ago
  Downvoted because this has become an almost knee-jerk reaction against any attempt at consolidating or unifying multiple standards, which should be the goal.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

duskwuff 12y ago

Micro-USB was intended to entirely replace Mini-USB. While some devices do still use Mini-USB, it's basically deprecated at this point. (You'll note, for instance, that there's no Mini-USB3.)

xorcist 12y ago
I recently bought a new camera. They were all equipped with mini-usb. It's standard now, and shows no sign of disappearing.
- icelancer 12y ago
  Agreed. Mini-USB is very popular in the digital camera industry.
  - sauere 12y ago
    Yup. And good old, fat USB B is still seen on most printers and hard drives.
    - icelancer 12y ago
      Yeah, now that you mention it. Never thought about that. USB 3.0 B is on my external hard drive enclosure. I wonder if there are ANY printers that use Micro-USB? I've never seen one.
- smackfu 12y ago
  It's a deprecated standard as of 2007, so I'm not sure what can be done by the standards body to stop people using it.
kolev 12y ago
Talking about USB 3, the micro-USB 3.0 connector is just terrible!
- Adaptive 12y ago

krschultz 12y ago

It was worse 3-4 years ago, pretty much every device today uses micro USB B connectors. There used to be mini-USB A & B, for a total of 3 small size connectors, plus the full size A & B. I'm not sure what definition of 'universal' yields 5 physically incompatible connectors, but I'll take 1 to rule them all any day.

bronson 12y ago
Everybody agrees that the mini plug was a mistake. For better or for worse, the USB IF would like to pretend like it never happened.
- throwketchup 12y ago
  Which is too bad because it is the connector used on almost all sport GPSs, many bicycle head and tail lights, as well as many generations of Canon still cameras, not to mention most non-Apple MP3 players. For better or worse, mini B plugs are in practice the most common connector on things which are not cell phones.
cnvogel 12y ago
Have you ever seen a mini-USB A connector out there in the real world? Or "Micro-A"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mini_usb_AB.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mini_usb_AB.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Micro-A_USB_port.jpeg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Micro-A_USB_port.jpeg I for sure haven't.
- adl 12y ago
  I have. four years ago, I bought a bluetooth car adapter that you could clip in the driver's visor (can't remember the model, but it was not a popular one) from BestBuy that had the weird one Mini USB A in the first photo. It was a PITA to charge it, and I lost the cable.

bryanlarsen 12y ago

And we're back to a nice clean interface. In the future, the only thing that won't be using a USB type C connector is Apple products. Everything else will have type C connectors and only type C connectors. Your laptop will have 3-4 type C connectors, and won't have anything else, not even power or DiplayPort. Tablets, phones, etc., same thing. Every monitor will become a docking station. Every cable will be identical. It's not quite utopia, of course. Cheap type-C cables will be a scourge. They'll work great at USB2 speeds, slow down USB3 devices and won't work when plugged into your monitor.