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Oh god no, Firewire is a particularly bad example of a keyed port. When implemented cheaply using a split flanged socket, the plug can easily be pushed in back
by blasdel 17y ago
Oh god no, Firewire is a particularly bad example of a keyed port.
When implemented cheaply using a split flanged socket, the plug can easily be pushed in backwards, spreading the flanges. Apple learned pretty quickly what a terrible idea that was, and switched to a design where there's a hard ABS ring inset in the aluminum exterior case. Unfortunately every other manufacturer continued with the shitty design.
On top of that, the power supply is 12v/1A, and is carried on one of the outside pins! If you shove it in backwards, power gets connected to data and fries the board. They should have used the central pins for power and ground.
I've personally seen at least a dozen cases of fried Firewire ports, including several epidemics where someone would fry ports on several computers using one bad device.
- tesseract 17y agoWould you say that the GameBoy connector (on which the FireWire one is based) is a better design in that respect?
- blasdel 17y agoThe gameboy connector is rhomboid along the long edge and with a longer bevel, making it much harder to insert incorrectly. It's usage is also a very special case -- the variance is in the cables, not the sockets. Only Nintendo had any reason to manufacture devices, and they always implemented it correctly with fascia preventing forced insertion.
- jrg 17y agoThat just reminded me of this piece, written by Michael Johas Teener - one of the people who was heavily involved in Firewire development. http://www.teener.com/firewire_FAQ.html#Why_the_4-pin_connector_sucks http://www.teener.com/firewire_FAQ.html#Why_the_4-pin_connec... (No word on what he thinks of the FW800 connector.)