Comment on USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible

• TWeaK@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I just wish they didn’t come with chips inside our cables.

  source

  • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    You need that for power regulation. One of the reasons that you can use a USB-C lead with anything it’s because all of the devices that require different power will just tell the cable that and the chip inside the cable deals with it. Otherwise there would have to be different cables for different voltage requirements.

    source

    • hcbxzz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You can do cable detection with just a few resistors. Why make everyone use active cables just for basic functionality? Aside from exceptional rare circumstances, cables should be passive devices IMO.

      source

      • anotherandrew@lemmy.mixdown.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        They don’t use cable ICs for basic power use. The IC in the cable (different ICs for different capabilities) is used for high power negotiation (ie the cheap thin cable won’t be able to do 100W, and the lack of chip ensures this safety requirement) and also for active equalization do you can get 40Gbps.

        It’s a good thing, and cheap cables don’t need it at all. The system falls back safely.

        source

        • -> View More Comments
    • TWeaK@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You don’t need it though. The power regulation is a decision between the load and the supply devices, the cable is an unnecessary third party. The cable should just be a multicore connection between two things, not a third device.

      If I had to go out on a limb though, I’d say it’s because manufacturers were selling cheap cables that didn’t meet the specification, and people were using them with higher power devices, causing overheating. By including a chip in the spec for the cable, you can push some of the responsibility back towards the cable manufacturer, and they can limit the maximum current to whatever they’ve designed to. In which case, we already do have different cables for different voltages - if your cable isn’t rated for 100W, then it might force a lower power even if your device and charger can do 100W. However it would be better if cable manufacturers would just meet the basic design specification to begin with, rather than creating unnecessary overhead.

      source

      • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        It doesn’t make any difference either it’s between the supply and the device or it’s between the cable and the device it’s still two devices.

        By pushing the responsibility onto the cable it allows you to operate the cable directly from a USB port. So you can have things like electrical sockets with USB connections and you don’t have to have chips in the sockets, because typically they’re just dumb electrical interfaces. It also means that the device delivering the power doesn’t have to be actually fully switched on, so you can recharge your phone from a USB port on your computer and you don’t have to power the computer on. As long as there is an open electrical channel to the port the cable will deal with it all itself.

        source

        • -> View More Comments
      • anotherandrew@lemmy.mixdown.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        The cable has to carry the negotiated power safely. It’s not unnecessary, it’s absolutely critical. I’ve personally seen and diagnosed the result of when this fails.

        For your low power applications there is no need and the spec allows for that.

        source

        • -> View More Comments
  • turkalino@lemmy.yachts ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    A chip can literally just contain basic logic gates. Your aversion to them is pure Qanon fiction

    source

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      My aversion to them is an aversion to unnecessary overhead. A cable is a cable, it shouldn’t be a third device.

      source
    • stardreamer@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      “But what if they start putting fries in my ports?”

      source
    • anotherandrew@lemmy.mixdown.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      No, the chip is a microcontroller with firmware. You can try to do it in pure logic but it’s a waste of effort and development resources.

      source
  • MataVatnik@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Bill gates already put chips in my vaccines

    source

    • Daft_ish@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Was it doritos? I hope it was doritos.

      source

      • MataVatnik@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Spicy nacho cheese baby

        source
• cheery_coffee@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I hate USB-C because until now the standard didn’t require any markings and the standards themselves are hot garbage.

  Go ahead, pull out a USB-C cable from your drawer and tell me what it does. I bet you instantly know which cable is VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort, FireWire, or serial, but you’ll never know for sure what your USB-C cable supports.

  You got reversibility but at what price?

  source
• Empricorn@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Naw, USB-A is much more secure. I plug that end into my power bank, throw it in a bag or my pocket, and it’ll disconnect maybe 1 time out of the 100 that the USB-C or Lightning end does. It is a little larger, though.

  source