
With new USB connector, no more wrong-way-up cables - shearnie
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57614456-76/with-new-usb-connector-no-more-wrong-way-up-cables/
======
MBCook
It's nice that they're finally fixing this, but I feel like Gruber's take [1]
is probably right. It's a little odd that there are no pictures, but this
won't be released until 2016. As he points out that's _four years_ after the
Lightning connector came out.

It's been dead obvious since USB first came out that having a cable that
worked either way would have been easier to plug in. We've been through a
couple of revisions of the smaller connectors (A, mini-B, micro-B, the new
USB3 version) but you won't start to see this for another two+ years.

[1] [http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/12/04/usb-
lightning](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/12/04/usb-lightning)

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
> I feel like Gruber's take

You have expressed a thought, not an emotion.

[http://www.wildmind.org/applied/depression/distinguishing-
th...](http://www.wildmind.org/applied/depression/distinguishing-thoughts-and-
emotions)

~~~
sanskritabelt
Hi! Welcome to the english language, is this your first week?

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jfb
It's always been baffling to me how bad consumer connectors are. Lightning is
the best from a UX standpoint, but why'd it take until 2012? Do the people who
sit on these standards boards ever actually _plug anything in_?

~~~
zellyn
Well, it's not just a simple plug: "The plug itself incorporates a processor
which detects the plug's orientation and routes the electrical signals to the
correct pins." \--
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(connector)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_\(connector\))

Depressingly... "Official Lightning connectors contain an authentication chip
that makes it difficult for third-party manufacturers to produce compatible
accessories without being approved by Apple."

~~~
jfb
All that's true (FULL DISCLOSURE: I work at Apple), but the _physical plug_
that Lightning uses is fantastic. Nothing in there seems to be particularly
dependent on the state of technology in 2012.

I mean, USB is better than the physically identical but electrically distinct
PS/2 ports, but that's not setting the bar particularly high.

~~~
davepage
USB (a relatively novel rectangular connector) is physically identical to PS/2
(a historically standard round mini DIN connector)? This sort of reasoning is
completely alien to me, which is probably why I'll never be as rich as Jobs.

~~~
MBCook
USB connectors don't have any intelligence, they're just a way to connect a
few wires together. In that sense, they work exactly like PS/2, AT keyboard
connectors, Atari 2600 joysticks, and headphones. The only differences are the
shapes and locations of the individual connections.

The lightning connector isn't passive, it contains some active circuitry, so
it's not nearly as simple.

Edit: seems I misread the meaning.

~~~
davepage
A physical connector has an electro-mechanical function, and the PHY layer has
an electronic function. Regardless the technology, both are always required.

So, lightning located some (small) part of the PHY in the connector rather
than in the client or host (where it would likely be cheaper). Apple could
have merely cross-wired the pins on each side of the connector to achieve a
reversible design and thus eliminated this excess complexity.

I suspect the design is motivated by IP/counterfeit protection. I do not
believe any of that benefits the end user at all.

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pkulak
As soon as I started using wireless charging I stopped caring about
USB/Lightning, whatever. Since what you need 99% of the time is power only, if
the data connector isn't the most convenient thing in the world, I don't
really care. No connector can beat just dropping my phone down on a pad.

~~~
hayksaakian
Even then, Bluetooth can help you there.

I want to see a no socket device

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bcoates
Does the unpleasant physical shape of the USB connector improve the electrical
properties somehow?

I've always been curious why the 3.5mm jack isn't used for more things, it's
small, easy to use, makes a sturdy connection, and handles way more plug-
unplug cycles than micro-usb.

~~~
sudont
Probably because it's known as an audio connector, unfortunately.

Still, there are other uses:
[http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~prabal/projects/hijack/](http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~prabal/projects/hijack/)

8.5kb/s isn't great, but for low-resolution data sampling it's not bad. (I
assume.)

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kosei
Am I the only one who hates the idea of having to deal with an entirely new
plug paradigm for USB? It's one of the few things that has been able to remain
a constant on PCs of mine for the past 10 years, along with Ethernet cords.

~~~
sopooneo
I agree. Reversible is better, but not better enough to be worth being
different.

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fairydust
How is this different/better from Apple's connector?

~~~
ChuckMcM
It won't be patented by Apple. Which is a hindrance to a 'universal' connector
design. Of course Apple started patenting its connectors in part to give it a
weapon against inferior cable/accessory makers (or so I'm told).

~~~
protomyth
I think the iPod / iPhone chargers that caused fires was a concern.

~~~
mindslight
If a company isn't worried about fallout from negligently designed mains
equipment, they certainly aren't worried about patent lawlers.

~~~
protomyth
If I remember right, and it started with golf clubs of all things, patents
give you a way to stop the import of these items. I figure Apple patents
everything anyway.

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fiatmoney
Sounds like a Lightning connector.

~~~
omonra
$2 < $30, innit.

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moreati
Flipper USB, a US company sells cables/adaptors with USB-A plug that works
both ways. I've no experience of them though, and it still leaves the Micro-B
connector with a wrong way up

[http://www.flipperusbsales.com/flipperhome.html](http://www.flipperusbsales.com/flipperhome.html)

------
MBlume
[http://xkcd.com/927/](http://xkcd.com/927/)

~~~
neil_s
Came here for this. I don't even buy that many electronics, and I still have a
dozen different (normal/macro/mini) USB cables. Now I have to throw them all
into a landfill to get basic connectivity? Or worse still, hang on to both the
old ones and the new ones to connect different devices, and buy adapters?
First world problems, yes, but taking 1 minute of 10 million people's time is
arguably as bad as taking a 100 minutes of a 100,000 people's time.

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riobard
They should have designed and released it with USB 3. 2016 is way too late.
The damage has already been done.

~~~
toggle
Damage to what? The "USB name?" I don't think it's going anywhere, even if we
do have to wait until 2016 for a better design. Two years isn't long,
considering we've been dealing with this since 1997 or so. Unless you mean
physical damage to your USB ports...then, yeah.

~~~
derefr
Presumably, the damage to the possibility of any new standard taking hold,
given how many USB2 devices are now out there in the world.

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jyf1987
i have just thought it yesterday, and i think it could be done for the current
type of usb. i have a model in my brain currently

