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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.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Sunday December 03 2017, @11:47PM (2 children)
putting cables in 'by feel' is very valid. sometimes, unavoidable.
a good design can tolerate all kinds of user 'error'. that's what makes a good design from, well, everything that happened over the last 20 or so years, maybe even 30, connector and cable-wise. (mostly connectors).
anything from the 60's and 70's seems to be strong, robust, easy to solder to or fix, can also carry current if need be (remap of pin functions).
hdmi connector is a laughing stock. dvi is at least tolerable (and its secure-able, with its screw points).
firewire wasn't too bad, but of course, it didn't last all that long. I did like that one and I often reuse its ports for carrying i2c and power across DIY boxes. but for consumers, firewire is 100% dead.
e-sata was another friggin joke. and i-sata connectors are crap, as well. power for sata drives, also crap. now, I have no love for the older molex power connectors, but they were still better than what we ended up with, in the sata power connector.
ethernet is still fine, pretty much - except that usb plugs can also fit -just- inside an rj45 female and if you are not looking or if its dark, you can plug usb into ethernet and not get anywhere ;) that is a design bug, for realworld design. they should have made that usb connector just 1mm wider; so it could not, at all, fit inside an rj45. pity they didn't think about that.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @02:27PM
> dvi is at least tolerable
Do you mean dvi a? or dvi b? or dvi I? Or perhaps you mean the dual linked DVI-D? I have cables for all of them. Problem is my PC socket needs DVI-D single linked. I might have an adapter somewhere...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @06:12PM
>I have no love for the older molex power connectors, but they were still better than what we ended up with, in the sata power connector.
One time, I managed to plug in a Molex connector the wrong way, and a hard drive went up in smoke because the 12-volt and 5-volt power connections were reversed.