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Death to the Trapezoid... Next USB Connector Will Be Reversible

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the suffer-no-more dept.

TheRealHocusLocus writes "Extreme bandwidth is nice, intelligent power management is cool... but folks should be spilling into the streets in thankful praise that the next generation miniature USB connector will fit either way. All told — just how many intricate miracle devices have been scrapped in their prime — because a tiny USB port was mangled? For millennia untold chimpanzees and people have been poking termite mounds with round sticks. I for one am glad to see round stick technology make its way into consumer electronics. Death to the trapezoid, bring back the rectangle! So... since we're on roll here... how many other tiny annoyances that lead to big fails are out there?" The new connector will be smaller too.

4 of 408 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Apple All Over Again by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unlike Lightning, this is just a connector for USB 2/3, not a whole new interface. A dumb, cheap adaptor should suffice. (Unlike Lightning to 30-pin adaptors which are basically tiny protocol droids translating between the two.)

    --
    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  2. Re:Even worse... by loganljb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obviously, you've never tried plugging a USB cable into the back of a tower that can't easily be moved (with a lot of connections in the back, it's rather difficult to move unless all of your wires are long). The plugs are sideways. What's up and what's down?

    Equally, for micro/mini USB, have you ever tried plugging in your phone in the dark, when it's yelling at you about needing to be charged? For that matter, those connectors are TINY. Can you read anything written on them?

    Reversible connectors -- or connectors with an actual OBVIOUS direction -- would be very nice.

  3. Re:Barrel connectors on brick power supplies by SJHillman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A lot of times, that's by design. If the laptop is jerked, you'd want it to become disconnected rather than stay plugged in and risk mangling the plug (or worse, the receiving port).

  4. Re:Doesn't Apple have a patent on this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, they are well designed. Compare to them to the standard EU and US designs which are flimsy, often left to be self-supporting (which they fail at), and have a tendency to just fall out of the sockets in my experience. A UK plug is solid when plugged in, makes an earth connection before a live/neutral connection as it is plugged in, disconnects the live/neutral before the earth is disconnected, and as the poster stated has a shuttered outlet so that the socket is only opened *after* an earth connection has been made. If you think that is a "russian solution" then maybe you think good engineering is communist, and flimsy make do is the american way.