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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 03 2017, @08:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the stand-on-your-head dept.

So that's why:

The USB paradox is one of the most familiar experiences of the digital age. Every time you try to plug in a USB cord, it seems like you always get it wrong on the first try. It doesn't matter how much attention you pay to the plug or the cord or the icons on the cord. It's always wrong.

And there's a good reason for that! In an interview published Thursday by DesignNews, Intel's Ajay Bhatt spoke at length about why the ubiquitous technology has been so infuriating for so long. Bhatt was a member of the team that developed USB technology. Even at the start of development, they knew that making the connector flippable would be a better user experience in the long run. But doing so would require twice the wiring and more circuitry, which would increase costs.

"If you have a lot of cost up front for an unproven technology it might not take off. So that was our fear. You have to be really cost conscious when you start out," Bhatt said.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @11:25AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @11:25AM (#604616)

    Looking isn't always an option, if the socket is at the back of a computer you can't easily reach to look.

    The piece of PCB used in the connector was probably going to be double-sided anyway, and via's aren't exactly expensive either. PCB manufacturers generally don't charge you extra for via's, unless you use truly ridiculous numbers or tiny ones. They didn't even need to make both the socket and the plug double-sided, if you just make the sockets single-sided, with little spring contacts (that's the expensive part), and the plug as a double-sided PCB, it would always work. I find it hard to believe it would have actually been more expensive, but that is of course in the luxury of hindsight.

  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:44PM

    by TheRaven (270) on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:44PM (#604630) Journal
    The problem wasn't so much that they didn't make the sockets double sided, it's that they made them symmetrical and not double sided. Mini USB was a lot easier because the connector and the port were obviously one way up. B type also wasn't really a problem. A type was symmetrical (at least, unless you look very closely), but had a strong dependency on the orientation that you inserted it in.
    --
    sudo mod me up
  • (Score: 2) by dak664 on Sunday December 03 2017, @01:53PM (4 children)

    by dak664 (2433) on Sunday December 03 2017, @01:53PM (#604645)

    And laptop designers trying to hide the sockets as much as possible, ideally black slots in the darkest part of a black case. To make the early ones look thinner?
    The blue insert of USB-3 is an improvement, but USB-C finally gets it right (at least on one end).

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @02:50PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @02:50PM (#604664)

      Ug, black slots on a black case with black text and black buttons that light up black when you press them, black, black, black, black, any color as long as it is black. What planet are case designers from? Would it kill them to make a case that actually REFLECTS light so people can SEE it? I'd pay good money for that, but that's not being a good little consumeroid buying what I am told to buy. Their solution? Gay backlighting that makes it look like something out of the 1980's "Tron" movie. Didn't realize that many people liked that movie. Lights up the entire room blue, but still cant see squat.

      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Farmer Tim on Sunday December 03 2017, @03:11PM (1 child)

        by Farmer Tim (6490) on Sunday December 03 2017, @03:11PM (#604673)

        Would it kill them to make a case that actually REFLECTS light so people can SEE it? I'd pay good money for that, but that's not being a good little consumeroid buying what I am told to buy.

        Apple. Black print on aluminium. And yes, you will pay good money for that.

        --
        Came for the news, stayed for the soap opera.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @06:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @06:36PM (#604746)

          Also solves that annoying problem of the one-sided USB ports by simply eliminating them. Still have the gay light-up Apple logo gimmick though.

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by leftover on Sunday December 03 2017, @04:41PM

        by leftover (2448) on Sunday December 03 2017, @04:41PM (#604701)

        Really! It must be to look good with the fog on light gray text colors they like.

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