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

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.

17 of 408 comments (clear)

  1. fit both ways by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's immoral

    1. Re:fit both ways by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ruins the sanctity of cabling.

  2. Atari would be proud by clickclickdrone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    USB, developed from the Atari 800's SIO technology (1978/79!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_SIO

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    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
  3. 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.)

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  4. Re:Even worse... by clickclickdrone · · Score: 5, Funny

    I find if I go to plug in a USB connector, it's best to change your mind at the last minute and turn it over because you're *always* wrong first time.

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    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
  5. 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.

  6. Re:Even worse... by JackieBrown · · Score: 5, Funny

    I find if I go to plug in a USB connector, it's best to change your mind at the last minute and turn it over because you're *always* wrong first time.

    Unfortunately, the only times that I would not be wrong the first time are the times I do this. There is no way to win.

  7. Re:Even worse... by Thanshin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn it, Jim, a spin-1/2 connector!

    USB connections are quantum entangled. At the other side of the wormhole there's a reality where you've spent your entire life getting the usb in in the first try.

    In that reality you're rich and powerful.

  8. Re:USB cables are 4 dimensional by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Informative

    In human society we have this thing called "humour", and one of its functions is to obviate the stress of common irritations by acknowledging them in an ironic or unexpected fashion, such that the next encounter with the irritant brings the joke to mind and is therefore less irksome. If your own society hasn't reached that level of nuance yet I dare say it is you, sir, who is the ape.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  9. 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).

  10. What about HDMI by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The WORST connectors are the trapezoidal HDMI connectors. Not only are they orientation specific, but they are often used on heavy cables that pull on the connector causing it to lose contact, and even bend the pins in the socket.

    Add in the fact that the data rate is like a zillion bytes per second and there is an encryption handshake that must go just right at the start and you have a clusterfuck.

    HDMI connectors seriously need an upgrade.

  11. Re:Even worse... by DaPhil · · Score: 5, Funny

    USB plugs only fit in after they are observed, Before that, they are in superposition. See http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/4555650/The+Quantum+state+of+a+USB/ for an explanation.

  12. 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.

  13. Re:Small Connectors by Megane · · Score: 5, Funny

    I also prefer regular-sized USB because it also fits into an Ethernet jack, so it can take you THREE times to get it right.

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    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  14. Re:Apple All Over Again by phobos512 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've no use for a protocol droid. What I do need is someone who can understand the binary language of moisture vaporators.

  15. Re:Even worse... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That is what you get for using a Universal Schrodinger Bus connector.

  16. Re:Small Connectors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I greatly prefer regular-sized USB to micro-USB, they sit much better in the slot.

    oh, c'mon, that is SO what she said!