
Say Hello To The Hideous New USB 3.0 Micro Connector - MBCook
http://www.androidbeat.com/2013/09/say-hello-hideous-new-usb-3-0-cable-new-smartphone-tablet-will-come/
======
GhotiFish
Uh... It's ugly? Ok. That is a highly highly highly subjective statement. I
don't think it looks ugly. The fact that its fully backwards compatible with
micro USB is fantastic. The fact that it just gracefully downgrades if you
only have USB2 or a microUSB connector is fantastic. It's more asymmetric, so
you're less likely to plug it in the wrong way, which is fantastic. The damage
statement is ridiculous speculation, has the author ever experienced this
ever? The ports pretty small and robust.

Shallow article.

~~~
toomuchtodo
As an Android proponent, and someone turned off by the iPhone's proprietary
nature, I must admit: Lightning is elegant compared to this.

I understand there is the form camp and the function camp, and that I think
(in my opinion) that most people on HN would subscribe to the "form following
function" ideology. The USB 3 plug does look hideous compared to the clean
microUSB plug, but I guess that shouldn't matter.

Could we really not pass more power and data over a standard USB 2.0
connection/port? _sigh_

~~~
DannyBee
Lightning is elegant precisely because it is not backwards compatible. This
connector is. You can plug a usb 2.0 micro cable in it _and it will work
properly_.

If we are willing to throw everything out, you could make something brand new
and shiny like lightning too.

~~~
CamperBob2
I'm not sure anyone cares about being able to plug a USB 2.0 Micro cable into
a USB 3.0 device. Perhaps they should have asked somebody.

~~~
Cymen
What about the millions who want to use the car phone charger they brought for
their last phone?

~~~
CamperBob2
(Shrug) They can use an adapter. It wouldn't be any less clunky or awkward
than this cable.

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Edvik
There's nothing particularly wrong with the connector. The article picks a
specifically ugly/cheap looking cable, though. Others look better, eg:

[http://i.imgur.com/7zEL7HJ.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/7zEL7HJ.jpg)

Also it's not really new - as others have pointed out people with USB drives
have been using these for a while.

~~~
m_ram
Here's an even shinier one:
[http://i.imgur.com/JfODxoo.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/JfODxoo.jpg)

I'll take the blue one if it's cheaper. I don't think I've even thought about
pretty cables until this article.

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jerrya
It's 2013.

The only question worth asking is:

Can a person easily connect and disconnect this cable in the dark (or if
blind?)

If the answer is no, then the cable design is terrible.

~~~
CamperBob2
With the iPhone in particular, the problem isn't the cable, which is fine, but
with the lack of a decent dock. Lightning connectors aren't much easier to
hook up in a dark room than any other connector.

~~~
zdw
If you can find the depression of the home button on an iOS device, you know
where the Lightning or 30-pin dock connector goes into.

I believe this has been the case with every iOS device (but not necessarily
every iPod device, some of which had the connector shifted to one side or the
other) since the beginning.

Hand a blindfolded person an iOS device and Lightning cable end, and they'd
likely be able to put the two together fairly quickly if they've ever touched
any other iOS device before.

It does suck for docks though, as it's not wide enough to balance on like the
30-pin connector was.

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alayne
This must be the hardware analogy to not refactoring code.

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nicholassmith
Backwards compatibility is all well and good but that looks ridiculous.

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gcv
Why couldn't it have been made to work in either orientation? Backwards
compatibility? Apple patents?

~~~
oscilloscope
It is backwards compatible with micro usb cables.

~~~
mcphage
It could have been backwards compatible _and_ reversable—two micro usb ports
next to each other, rotated 180 degrees.

~~~
oftenwrong
That seems like a great idea, but then new cases would have to be accounted
for. For example, what happens when someone plugs two micro usb cables into
the one micro usb3 connector? Dealing with that would add complexity and
therefore expense and size.

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delinka
Yeah, that blue, injection-molded plastic looks terrible. I bought a new
portable (external) Seagate 1TB today that came with a cable that had this
connector. Its plastic covering was much nicer _and_ black.

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nilved
It looks unusual but I don't think many people care as much about the
aesthetics of their cable connectors as the author does.

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pmx
My Seagate HDD has one of these cables and I love it. Its a breeze to get it
plugged in because you can feel instantly if you have it the right way around.
I don't much care what my connectors look like, I don't spend much time
admiring their form, I just grab 'em and plug 'em in!

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jmspring
It looks like the cable to some of my external SSD drives. I think it is a bit
large for a phone, but given phones seem to be getting larger, maybe that
isn't so much of an issue.

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scotty79
How am I supposed to plug it into micro usb2.0 socket?

~~~
Toucan
You aren't, the port is backwards compatible, not the cable.

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foxylad
Personally it looks great. I've resorted to painting white spots of the side
of all my micro-USB plugs so I know which side is up in lower light. With this
one, you'll be able to run a thumbnail along it to tell which side is which in
total darkness.

So it's more clunky, but a significant portion of phone users don't have
perfect vision and this will aid them.

~~~
xixora1
If the cable/connector/device is following convention, the connector should
have the USB logo facing "up".

~~~
jrockway
But of course, the phone and tablet manufacturers can't agree which way is up.
(I think it's screen-side up, but many seems to think it's back-side up.)

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jrockway
New? USB 3.0 is five years old at this point.

Unlike the lightning connector, USB 3.0 is fully backwards-compatible with USB
2.0 and regular USB cables.

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eksith
I look forward to the day we stop using cables at all for these devices. My
electric toothbrush charges without a connector by simple induction; I don't
see why a phone shouldn't either. Plus a phone should be able to transfer data
wirelessly at reasonable speed.

~~~
mintplant
To be fair, your phone likely consumes far more power than your electric
toothbrush. I would be interested in learning about the viability of this type
of technology in the phone space.

~~~
eksith
That's true. The draw is quite a bit higher than for a simple electric motor,
but as devices use less and less power in the future, it should at least be
available for some.

Something like a Moto Fone shouldn't need cables
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_FONE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_FONE)

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paolovictor
Ugly as it may be, I actually think it's nice for making easier to plug it on
the correct orientation, since the two segments are assymetric. Remember how
people complained it was hard to find the correct way to plug an USB device on
a quick glance?

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prodigal_erik
> you’re really going to have to pay attention to where you’re sticking the
> cable in so you don’t do any damage.

 _Damage_? Is there a known failure mode with micro USB 3, or is the author
unusually heavy-handed with this stuff?

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pbreit
Lightning blows this away.

~~~
DannyBee
In what way? Connector aesthetics? Or technical specs?

One of the reasons the connector looks like this is because it's backwards
compatible. So on that front, lightning definitely doesn't "blow it away".

If they threw backwards compatibility out the door, like Apple did, it would
"look better", but if you are always willing to throw everything out and
people are always willing to go along with you, you can basically do whatever
you want.

~~~
jmathai
Being directional makes it sort of suck. I'm all for backwards comparability
but this is one of the original design flaws of USB. I hope they fix it at the
cost of losing backwards compatability some day.

~~~
MBCook
While a bit ugly, at least it's pretty easy to see which way is 'up', which
can be tough with micro-USB.

The Lightning's reversible orientation is really nice though.

~~~
prodigal_erik
A reversible design would have been elegant. Lightning just requires every
connector to have a chip which figures out its orientation _and_ which is
intended to obstruct third parties from making compatible accessories.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(connector)#Technolog...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_\(connector\)#Technology)

[http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/apple-revising-mfi-
prog...](http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/apple-revising-mfi-program-to-
limit-third-party-lightning-accessories/)

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Nursie
I wonder if this will allow MHL and host mode at the same time?

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gbozee
does it guarantees the same speed as any standard usb3.0 port?

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cmccabe
Oh no! Fashion crisis!

Oh wait-- I just remembered. Wireless chargers exist. Crisis averted.

