Why Does USB Keep Changing? | Nostalgia Nerd

[@pspicerwensley]

As one engineer quipped: Standards are wonderful things - there’s always so many to choose from. 😂

[@jlco]

Oof.

[@THTB_lol]

dispenser goin up

[@_____alyptic]

Im seeing this meme a lot 🤔 Was the engineer the person in this video?

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

It's great that we have so many choices 🤣🤣

[@sevk_2]

@@THTB_lol engineer gaming

[@altid76]

The main guy behind USB recently died. At the funeral they lowered the coffin down brought it back up turned it over and lowered it again

[@ph0roggy]

😂😂👏

[@JustinLaNoue]

This should be pinned lol

[@rjonboy7608]

That was 🦧💩

[@clam4597]

Surprised that wasn't 3 times.

[@javiercingolani23]

Legend has it they used a collection of old USB cords to hold the coffin

[@BastiatC]

Problem: there are 27 competing standards Action: Create a single universal standard for all use cases Result: There are 28 competing standards

[@cybersteel8]

The XKCD authors are geniuses

[@Aighthandle]

@@cybersteel8 which is your favorite author, “X, K, C, or D”?

[@bunnyben5607]

I feel USB was more of a complete standards reset and unification, as in it just wiped away all the terrible wonky serial ports and unified all the "competing" standards under an overarching standard.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@Aighthandle Black Hat

[@Eric-vq7jr]

Fix a stupid problem with a stupid solution.

[@michaelgrella]

I hope we can keep Type-C, it’s perfect. I have a feeling that people in the future are laughing at this comment right now

[@mayonais]

"in the future" "laughing right now" *impossible*

[@michaelgrella]

@@mayonais you’re that lame ass that ruins all the jokes at parties, aren’t you?

[@ZechWithAnE]

Laughs in wireless charging

[@Jake-kv8ie]

@@michaelgrella your that dumb person who doesn’t understand that he was also joking

[@sodiumz7161]

@@Jake-kv8ie You’re that person who doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re.

[@yellowlemonPenguin]

I'm a bigger fan of C's design than any of the others, just because it's reversable.

[@herpnderpn2484]

In my experience, it is much stronger than the micro USB as well. Then, it also supports USB 3.0 as well, and can put out 1080 video(maybe higher?).

[@MikoBennett]

i like the usb-c design aswell, if it worked for what i needed it for, i would like it more then just 4 the design itself. U can find usb-c to hdmi cords..even tho i have a new asus i7-7gen / gtx 1080 $1,400 gaming laptop, the usb-c port on my pc isn't compatible for video....

[@blemisheddiscgaming6464]

C + C = USB ?

[@bluebull399]

I love USB C. Hated the other ones.

[@leaeughfish5944]

I'm not saying anything about Apple. ÆÜGH

[@DoubleThinkTwice]

I mean, to be really fair here: Having 5 or so different types of USB connectors still beats every. single. device. having its own power cable and its own data link cable. I'm in pain anytime I try to "just plug in" old devices. And on the upside, a lot of devices you can buy don't even come with a dedicated charger and cable anymore. My parents bought an LED dog leash that shines bright in the dark, and it had a micro USB to recharge. The thing was dirt cheap and it's easy to recharge, thanks to just relying on this standard. Even if we get another 2 or 3 types of connectors the further USB develops, it absolutely beats the alternative.

[@yuehuang3419]

Agreed. One of major revolution with USB is the concept of power delivery (over the same cable as data). IMO, this was one of major reason why adoption rate was huge. Though not intended as power delivery, overtime it changed with USB type C.

[@Liggliluff]

Yes, it's so easy for people to go "this thing doesn't solve every single little thing, so let's stick to our old worse methods". It's a stupid argument, and we should still use what's better even if it doesn't solve everything.

[@andrew_koala2974]

Stip TRYING - There is no success in TRYING. Success is in doing. Think about then when you are constipated. Only then will you learn the difference between Trying and Doing. Stop using the word Trying. One either does something or not.

[@pajamas720]

@@andrew_koala2974 first off, what is this philosophical crap? and second, you cant do something unless you try it, evaluate what went wrong or right, make corrections, and try again until you get something that works. like fixing constipation. or, for a more relevant example, developing cable standards. but it starts with experimentation; trying things in order to do them.

[@lucasterable]

Too bad that if this trend keeps going, we'll end up in a situation where every device or at least every brand has its own distinct, de facto exclusive USB plug!

[@zecekobold2140]

"If you can see the USB logo on the top of the plug, then you're plugging it in the right way." Tell that to half my peripheries that put their own branding on the visible side and USB logo on the bottom.

[@saelorasinanardiel8983]

@@YangDoesAThingIDK tell that to my PC, which has the usb ports sideways. Or my usb hub, which is reversable...

[@KipdoesStuff]

I have a phone where the receiver is upside down.

[@CommodoreGreg]

Tell that to any Samsung device. Every Samsung phone and tablet in my house has the connector upside down.

[@Leekodot15]

Your USB Hub will tell you "ain't no problem, kid." And then you have Samsung, but you can yell at them for their problems. What you SHOULD be talking to is my unpolarized phone charger.

[@KertaDrake]

Or the box of cables I have that have the logo on BOTH sides for some unfathomable reason.

[@MGlBlaze]

I actually had no idea the Mini-A, Mini-AB and Micro-A connectors existed. So, there's an interesting bit of trivia for some parts of the USB standard that didn't catch on commonly.

[@maxon1672]

Everyone’s got their version of “the box” stashed away somewhere lol. 📦 🔌

[@PWingert1966]

I have mine in little plastic containers by type, length, color, braided, and unbraided. I have 64 little containers on my wall.

[@DJ_Dopamine]

I now have several of them all over the house, in different cupboards and draws... need to buy a really big 'the box' 🤣

[@purr_lude]

mine is "the drawer"

[@soaringparakeet]

It's a pain when I go to use my ps3 again and forget it has mini b on the controllers not micro. I had to use a 3 foot cord and play on the floor. Should've thrown more cords in the box.

[@PWingert1966]

@@soaringparakeet I try to have at least three cable lengths for each cable.

[@evank3718]

I love how the first letter of Usb means “Universal”. They sure had a sense of humor

Universally different 😁

[@kaldo_kaldo]

Funny but you needed literally a different connector for every single device back in the 90s, with the exception of mouse and keyboard, those were both PS/2 ports. But they were the only PS/2 devices.

[@-Muhammad_Ali-]

That is for selling the brand more. It's like the buzword "intellect" now

[@andrejrockshox]

@@kaldo_kaldo most of the nineties was DIN/5 for kb and RS-232 for mouse.

[@Tofupancho]

PS/2, DB9 serial, DB25 parallel, VGA, DVI A/D/I, SCSI, eSATA, FireWire 400/800, PCMCIA, Expresscard 54, and Expresscard 34 are just the ones I remember encountering off the top of my head growing up. Many different memory card formats too. Just for pretty standard geeky kid stuff. The second ~half of those couldn’t be hotplugged; you had to shut down, connect or disconnect, then fire it up again. Not sleep, and typically no auto save. So save everything manually, then power cycle, connect, etc. Oh and PCI express wasn’t one thing. If you were fortunate enough to have dedicated graphics and a motherboard that supported it, you’d use an AGP slot. Then for peripherals some combo of maybe 6 versions of PCI/PCI-X/PCI-X 2.0, all serving different speeds and power needs so they were all uniquely keyed, no backwards compatibility that I can recall. Through 10 miles of snow, uphill both ways, in black and white. Oh and games sounded different based on your sound card or in some cases just didn’t output sound at all.

[@tzisorey]

The best thing about standards, is that there's so many to choose from. 🙄

[@jasonhatt4295]

The 2099 Standardization of Standards. Or maybe in the future it will be the 2999 Standardization of Standards... it might take that long to standardize standards

[@tzisorey]

@@jasonhatt4295 to paraphrase XKCD The Problem: There are 7 standards to choose from. The Solution: Lets make a standard that covers the best of all 7 standards, as reverse-compatible as possible, and use that instead! The Problem: There are *_8_* standards to choose from....

[@anandsuralkar2947]

@@tzisorey lol

[@rubenayla]

@@tzisorey You gotta make a really good standard to beat those other 8 standards. I think the main problem is people and companies that just choose whatever is more practical in the short term, and then it's hard to change to a good standard. Like the raspberry pi 4. It's like a joke. It's a modern miniature pc, and it has 4 USBA ports. 2 with USB2 and 2 with USB3, 2 micro hdmi ports, an ethernet port, and THEN a USB-C, FINALLY! but for the power. So it's unusable. Really??!!! And AC Wiring color code. Specially 3 phase power. Each country chooses whatever random colorset is more practical. JUST CHOOSE BLACK FOR NEUTRAL, AND RGB COLORS FOR THE 3 PHASES! and the ground the same color as the ground, brown, but with a strip, to be similar to the existing ones. A green strip would make it seem the ground with grass. It's unforgettable. The EU standard of BLUE NEUTRAL is absolutely absurd.

[@tzisorey]

@@rubenayla I think it's more that different standards were made with different goals in mind - goals that may be at odds with each other. Yes, arbitrarily chosen standards are typically easier to supersede, but if you need a standard that does something uncommon, that may have been phased out of more recent standards - you may need to fall back to one of those older standards. That, and knowledge of the older standards needs to exist for as long as equipment made with the older standards, is still in use. If people don't learn the older standards, in your 3-phase suggestion, and come across an old device where the blue is the neutral..... Kaboom!!

[@tonipwneroni9846]

USB Micro was always the bane of my existence. I still have and use the regularly the same original USB mini cables that came with my PS3 and have never had hardware damage. I've lost count over how many micro connectors I've broken or phone ports that have been distorted with the weak connector requiring the phone to sit in EXACTLY the right spot to charge.

[@revengenerd1]

I have a mixed experience of that, micro when its in right I had no problems, and when its not its a nightmare, mini on the other hand just never seems to be snug enough to hold strong but even if not its generally fine unless disturbed.

[@One.Zero.One101]

It's the worst when you have to place the phone and the wire in a very specific way so it would charge.

[@illusorybucket5703]

I have a drawer of so many useless cords but ONE DAY I'm gonna need one so I need them all

[@Spartan11117777]

Illusory Bucket Good on you, me and my Family do that too haha you never know when an Alien Invasion or when Nazis on the Moon is gonna invade Earth and they happen to use USB shaped ports 😆

[@TaiFerret]

When I'm done scanning I store my scanner with its USB cable on top of it. It has a standard B connector.

[@GizmoFromPizmo]

I'm looking for a DVI cable that I KNOW I have here somewhere!

[@liaminwales]

im up to 3 boxes, the cables are now more noted than ever and i can never find the cable. thanks USB. and dang do DVI cables with there little bolts snag in the noted ball.

[@AlexHayes623]

Exactly what I tell my wife every time she's gets on one of her cleaning sprees.

[@SquishySenpai]

Let's not forget that Dell used to often mount their front USB ports upside down. So the logo thing doesn't help there.

[@CommodoreFan64]

I use to have an ACER Aspire one netbook that had USB A ports on both sides, and on the right side the logo on the cable would be up, and on the left it would be down, unless it was non compliant USB device like a keychain photo frame my ex use to carry on her purse right before everyone had cellphones with screens that could do the same thing, and the cable that came with it had the logo printed backwards, and on the bottom of the connector, and don't get my started on the software for it lol!

[@rsmeaton]

Yeah, dell had this weird phase involving motherboards being put in "backwards" relative to all other brands. It also made installing graphics cards a pain. I had to use a PCI extension cable and just let my graphics card dangle out of the tower once.

[@TheGingerburger]

@@CommodoreFan64 😂yeah, I've had a couple laptops where the USBs on the left are the right way up and upside down on the left, annoying as fuck

[@Christopher-N]

I get that from Sony devices, also. I always assume the USB logo side up, but when I try to plug in an external drive, I find the plug is the wrong way up.

[@howtobebasic2122]

who has a dell opitplex?

[@ijustsawthat]

1990s : Companies gather together to create a single standard. 2000s : Companies try to avoid the standard at all costs.

[@marczhu7473]

otherwise they can't sell their extra goodies adaptor.

[@Yoda-177]

@@marczhu7473 Literally only Apple

[@daisuke910]

@@marczhu7473 such waste

[@spydermonkey2066]

The reason US will never advance. All companies care about is miking every cent not moving forward or innovation. Its sad really.

[@universenerdd]

@@spydermonkey2066 but innovation is good

[@TheWesman45]

I call BS on micro being rated for more cycles than mini. I've had WAY more micro connectors go bad than mini.

[@dr.doppeldecker3832]

That's what I experienced too! These micro connectors where so prone to wear and tear.... If you had it plugged in your mobile phone you better not touched that mobile phone too much^^ they became loose very fast and lost connectivity....

[@UtilityCurve]

YMMV, but for me it was the opposite. Vive la difference. Apple, though; those guys remind me of ... Catbert, messing with people out of sheer perversity.

[@Frostbytedigital]

That may be your experience, but how often were you attempting to use a device connected to a mini USB cable? Smart phones completely changed how often we were using a mobile device while it was charging.

[@TheWesman45]

@@Frostbytedigital Well, given my teenage propensity to game until my eyes glazed over with the concentrated crust of misused youth and the positively laughable battery life of ps3 controllers, a lot. Not to mention nearly every other device I owned for half a decade. Which included a UMPC(an early to mid 00s equivalent to a modern tablet) used as a phone and laptop, my experience with mini usb vs micro isn't lacking. Is it still anecdotal? Yeah, but that doesn't change my experience.

[@RockinEnabled]

I agreed first - I've changed a bunch of faulty micros and hard to remember if I changed any minis. But then I thought: do I have that many devices with mini usb to use these cables as frequently as micros? Here's the solution! To make a durable connector you need... to make less devices with it! Hooray!

[@generalcodsworth4417]

The introduction of USB: "there are too many plugs, we need one plug to do everything!" *twelve thousand USB plugs later* "there are too many plugs, we need one plug to do everything!"

[@JoelYoder]

There's a fantastic XKCD comic that goes pretty much the same way: "There are 6 competing standards! Let's make one replace all of them" *Soon:* "There are now 7 competing standards!"

[@arsvi123]

@@JoelYoder There really is an XKCD for every situation

[@davidabulafia7145]

One plug to rule them all

[@tjl2836]

@nazi I mean USB-C is getting really close to being the perfect port. With one USB-C port I can charge my phone, laptop, headphones, and power bank. But of course, companies like Apple and Microsoft choose to use their own ports

[@tjl2836]

@nazi ok I don't know what you do with ur USB-C cables but almost nobody has the issues you have. I've never had a USB-C cable break, even the one I got from the dollar store. On the other hand, most of my Lightning ports break on the cable.

[@vojtasTS29]

i have never seen a micro-A connector in my life and i was very much alive and around tech during it's time.

[@p8blr]

It’s actually still being used, the DJI Mavic controller uses micro-a.

[@JasonGolf]

Ron Tozier yes and they tend to break and people plug the wrong things in them.

[@yearsmonths-ow6eu]

You are dumb piece of shit if you never seen one

[@TadasG258]

@@yearsmonths-ow6eu wow

[@jayyyzeee6409]

@@yearsmonths-ow6eu Wow, that's harsh! I guess I'm a dumb piece of shit too, 'cause I've never seen one in the wild either.

[@fedos]

WRT using the logo to determine if you're plugging it in the right way: some manufacturers dont use a logo, and some even put it on the wrong side.

[@bensemusx]

Use the seam on the metal connector of type-A. It goes on the bottom. If you can see a seam you need to flip it.

[@fedos]

@@bensemusx Thanks!

[@misssuperhiphop123]

fedos just wing it till it goes in

[@nowthatsjustducky]

I guess a QA person or small team of QA people are too expensive a luxury for manufacturing these days.

[@compzac]

also on USB 2 and three in the proper orientation of the USB A port on the computer the plastic colored bit is on top which means that on the cable the plastic colored bit will be on bottom, except for chargers which reverse the orientation as part of the USB charging standard, something ive also done with any cables i have that are incorrect or dont have the logo is to use a sharpie to denote correct orientation. though this seems kinda rare as i have a metric crap ton of cables and only like 4 are incorrect one is totally blank the other has the brand name and no USB symbol and the last two have it on the wrong side

[@HamidKarzai]

It doesn't seem right to call a printer a slave device. Given how much suffering these products have inflicted upon me I'm pretty sure they're the master and I their slave

[@nicksmith4507]

LOL

[@ElmerCat]

A computer-illiterate friend of mine calls the USB logo "The Cactus". 🌵

[@xelhaku]

Or he is a masterhacker and is using code words

[@zer0r00t]

ok I cannot unsee it now

[@Kalvinjj]

He has now earned the status of computer master then. Respectfully so.

[@Oddman1980]

Well, that's what it is now.

[@UltimatePerfection]

To be fair, it kinda looks like one.

[@CarthagoMike]

It is clear to see the USB format is just as universal as the naming scheme of the last few USB generations.

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

That naming scheme is pure evil ;)

[@QoraxAudio]

that's what I thought.

[@abadenoughdude300]

What, USB-A 3.2 Gen. 2 is clearly a way simpler name than LPT1. /s

[@Loewi_CW]

@@StefanoPapaleo-TS the naming scheme is pure misleading of customers. The USB-IF should pay damages to everyone who mistakenly bought 3.1 or 3.2 GEN1

[@kalijasin]

USB doesn't work better than ps/2 port, headphone jack, microphone jack, etc. USB is really only good for flash/thumb drives and printers.

[@LARAUJO_0]

"Universal Serial Bus" _Has 10 different variations_

[@lzh4950]

Time to join the Universal Serial _Train_ of different plugs/speeds/purposes/capabilities etc.

[@saturniunyttech679]

@@lzh4950 USB express choo choo am I right

[@Smakheed]

"Universal Serial Bus" is Universally different...

[@aaronseet2738]

Universal Variant Bus

[@spvillano]

@Eugene all, via plug and pray. ;)

[@Naeidea]

I like the fact they don't just concede a "This is the spec, deal with it" scenario, they constantly evaluate the market and go "Okay things are changing, we must go smaller". and yes it sucks having 5 different cables for 5 different devices but those 5 cables can do a job that 90% of other standards fail at. They work independently. If I find an old device I only need to find a cable that fits and I'm sorted. At work a few years ago I happened across a situation where I had been off a week and came back to an essentially butchered desk, I had a phone that was plugged into nothing and a perfectly suitable power connector right next to it, I thought "Oh cool I just need to plug it in"..... Nope... It smoked, it crackled and it popped.... The phone died that day...... It was a different connector than it needed and I kept it quiet and pretended nothing was wrong(£200 phone). Standards are very important.

[@teresar6348]

it'd be interesting if that timing was kinda predictable tho. Like if you know its every 5 years, on the new year barring extreme justification. That way preparation may make companies more inclined to swap.

[@theelmonk]

This comment was made 3 years ago before we discovered that the huge number of options USB C can support means that many of them will happily plug together but unaccountably fail to do what was wanted. And we're back to coloured sockets.

[@x54xHantamachine]

I have probably 15 micro usb cables lying about and 14 of them only work if held at a very specific angle or not at all lol. Those things break sooooo easily, mostly because of those hooks. The usb c revolution has been a godsend.

[@Needed4Reddit]

This and the reversibility are the best features. I can't count the number if micro cables I have broken or lose contact intermittently or I have to bend to get them to stay consistently connected. C seems much more durable.

[@segganew]

Completely agree. I have tons of cables that only work at a certain angle, fortunately my phone uses USB C now

[@One.Zero.One101]

I call the USB-A and USB-B the Schrodinger's Port, you don't know which is right-side up until you make an observation.

[@zdanee]

Oh, but with USB-C not there are invisible differences between the cables you simply can't tell by looking at the connector. Does it support USB3 speed? Fast charging? Display output? Thunderbolt? Power delivery? Any combination of the above? You won't know until you've plugged it in and tried! Now you need to have _that one good cable_ that you take everywhere, because you tried and it does everything.

[@coalcreekdefense8106]

I don't have any USB-C devices yet. Is that seriously how it works? Not all USB-C cords have the same capabilities? What the hell is wrong with the people making these standards?

[@veryInteresting_]

@@coalcreekdefense8106 Nope. USB4 uses the same USB-C connector but different cables. So you see a USB-C connector, you can't be sure if it's USB2, USB3, USB3.1, USB3.2 or USB4. You just have to plug it and see if it works.

[@CrazyGamer1541]

it's awful!

[@bluray9272]

Your idea is completely understandable and I stand with you on common grounds. But looking at the bright side, in the present and near future all electronic devices be it laptop, phone, camera, tv, music systems etc will have just a usb c port which is not only small but will also allow data transfer speed of really large files in no time. The reason usb c is better than the usb 2 is that it is actually UNIVERSAL- All devices will have same port and WILL BE able to support data transfer of variable speeds unlike usb 2 which still has different input ports for phone charging(micro usb) and hard drives and both of them allow data speeds of DIFFERENT SPEEDS. Soon you will have ONLY one cable which will be compatible with ALL devices in the world, you will just have to buy ONE cable of any speed you like which you will be able to use in any device unlike usb 2 which has many cables differing in both shape and speed. I hope I was able to clear some of your doubts 😊

[@bluray9272]

@Leagle Eagle 😅😂

[@nickwallette6201]

Plug orientation is simple. You have a 50/50 chance, which ensures you’ll get it right on the third try. The other great thing about USB is .. what does the port actually do? Could be good ol USB, could be a charger device, could be a charging device, could be Thunderbolt, could be DisplayPort, could be all of the above... There are a universe of possibilities!

[@mcrecordings]

I wish :D Sometimes I fumble for ages trying to get them in, same with HDMI or DP cables when you can't see the socket.

[@Christopher-N]

"The possibilities of Tiberium... are limitless!" -- Dr. Mobius, _Command & Conquer_

[@thewiirocks]

"You have a 50/50 chance, which ensures you’ll get it right on the third try. " - Truer words have never been spoken. Never have been able to figure out why it doesn't fit on the first try, even when I go out of my way to line up the plug. I first have to flip it over, realize that it is incorrectly oriented, then flip it once more to finally connect. USB-C is so much easier. I just have to scratch the aluminum by dragging the plug around until it falls into the slot.

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

I've seen multiple networking equipment manufacturers use USB ports for serial. Not a USB to serial converter, but a pure serial connection over a USB connector.

[@thewiirocks]

@@shade221 Historically I would have agreed with you. However, as a computer professional I just have too many devices these days. Numerous ones from work or dongles for the new USB-C devices. "Getting used to it" doesn't work anymore. So I've become more aware of the USB super-position problem. The actual source of the so-called "problem" is that you've usually got a bad angle on it. After flipping it around a few times you usually correct the angle. USB-C Dongles really don't help here because the USB-A ports can be at all angles and orientations depending on how the dongle was plugged in.

[@robertw1871]

It’s amazing how you have a 50/50 chance yet fail nearly 100% to get it on the first try, it should be a game in Vegas plug the cable for a dollar, you’d be rich

[@robin_birdie_]

such an underrated comment ) cheers )

[@therealjammit]

I love standards. There are so many to chose from.

[@Liggliluff]

There are much that needs standardising in this world, and I wouldn't mind helping.

[@andrew_koala2974]

Except that is not the case with Political parties. One only has two sides of the same coin. The choice is either Nazi or Communist, usually with a fake brand to confuse the people as to the reality of what flavor they really are.

[@pedrofelck]

This looks like a phrase spoken in Civilization when you discover a new technology.

[@RannonSi]

​@@andrew_koala2974 One of the pros with living outside of the US, I guess ;). We have about 8 in our parliament. And if the silent half of the US start voting you might actually get more political parties into power (you have about 60 or so en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States), at least if anyone started to vote on anything outside of the big two.

[@kvozart8437]

USSR - if you hate choises: only 1 sort of any product type and mostly it's "absent"

[@AgnostosGnostos]

I bought my first new desktop PC in 1997. It was an affordable one and the motherboard didn't have latest USB technology for compatibility reasons. The keyboard connector was a five pin DIN connector, not even a PS/2 connector. The mouse had a small RS-232 serial connector. The external modem for the internet had a larger DB-25 serial connector. The printer and scanner had DB-25 parallel connectors. The joystick had its own DA-15 connector for the game/midi port of the sound-card. The connection of the hard disk was the large flat IDE cable. All these connections were introduced from late 70's to mid 80's and were still present on a typical Pentium PC from mid 90's to late 90's. All these different connectors were making the life of beginners very difficult and it was easy for any cable to disconnect and make the PC unusable without restart. The USB was launched the previous year in 1996 and in 1997 was very rare with new computers. In 1998 I bought a USB card for the ISA slot of my PC. The USB ports had a 12 Mbit/s which was as fast as the parallel port. However USB made everything simpler. I changed the keyboard and mouse to USB ones, later the scanner to a USB one. With a powered USB hub everything was USB and still is.

[@crhu319]

In early 1998 I built several identical PCs for employees, about half a dozen. They had USB and PS/2 ports, and I think legacy serial and parallel on the motherboard (never used). One still works. It's power costs that made me retire them.

[@nesyboi9421]

Thats a cool story, glad it isn't like that anymore.

[@climbingtiger]

You haven't lived until you try to find a DB-23 connector for a Commodore Amiga - when the Amiga came out EVERYONE was wondering why they did that to us.

[@eeresponsible]

The expression is "change tack." It's a nautical term. When sailboats want to sail against the wind they sail diagonally so the wind is across either their port or starboard bow. Then they have to turn ninety degrees and do the same thing with the wind across the other side of the bow, so their course looks like a zigzag. This process is called "tacking." When someone figuratively "changes tack" it means they're approaching a problem from a different direction, like a sailboat sailing against the wind will turn ninety degrees to stay on course.

[@clayz1]

. That was at 13:00 fyi. Good point. Reminds me of ‘razed’ and raised. Opposite meanings, same sound.

[@CanuckGod]

This. Always bugs me when people try to use 'tact' as in tactics, as opposed to 'tack' i.e. direction...

[@clayz1]

steve gale Like block and tackle

[@seraphina985]

@steve gale That one makes me wonder I presume then that the yards in question would be yardarms as opposed to distance that actually makes sense thinking about it as seems the three yardarms per mast (They are the horizontal arms the sails are mounted on right? Not a sailor so could be remembering wrong lol) and three masts fore, aft and midships configuration was pretty common for larger ships big enough to accommodate that many masts anyway.

[@video99couk]

Now I remember I got bopped on the head by the boom when I was a teenager.

[@ninguynl]

I just learned what that funky micro USB port was on my laptop. It's a superspeed port! Wonderful how Asus never bothered to provide the proper cable and just supply a regular micro cable.. Standards are wonderful, aren't they?

[@Sercil00]

"We created another marvel of engineering. The new plug is smaller and can handle data transmissions up to..." Me: "Can you plug it in both ways?"

[@justauser]

Most important thing. I dont wanna go back to the USB flip flop days

[@TheCompleteMental]

"Yes" *_crowd cheers_*

[@jacobrzeszewski6527]

@@TheCompleteMental crowd becomes disappointed upon realizing nobody has any type c to type c cables.

[@ladmad9196]

@@jacobrzeszewski6527 i do

[@MarkusGlesnes]

@@jacobrzeszewski6527 i charge with c to c lol

[@MainAvel]

>there are 14 standards Engineer: This is an outrage! We need one single universal standard! >there are now 64 standards edit: apparently you can't use an old joke on the internet, that some random webcomic has made popular.

[@OrangeC7]

xkcd

[@Gribbo9999]

Don't worry soon there will be 256 standards.

[@fiddley]

At least credit the original source dude instead of pretending you made it up: xkcd.com/927/

[@punishedflucker8342]

@@fiddley Something something everything under the sun. It seems like you're just chasing interweb clout by flexing your xkcd knowledge. Cringe.

[@fiddley]

@@punishedflucker8342 Well, seems like reading comprehension isn't your strong point.

[@TheIronArmenianakaGIHaigs]

17:05 I love this one, I know it was more of a end of evolution down the wrong path as C is better but even so. I just think it’s kinda neat. Being also backward compatible was nice too.

[@michaelvigil5321]

Yep, it was nice on my old Galaxy S5 to plug in with a typical cord but if i wanted my dead phone full in half an hour i whip out the speed charger.

[@iClone101]

USB-C is really turning out to be the connector that the USB-IF originally envisioned. Not only is it compatible with all USB specifications, but also with Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, and even ethernet, allowing it to carry virtually any signal a device can output. Give it a few more years, and I can see most devices using USB-C as the standard. Apple jumped the gun a bit too soon, but eventually it will likely turn out the way Apple is going.

[@Mikelaxo]

I had it on my galaxy S5, I never really like it aside from the fact that no one in my house would ask me to borrow my charger as it wasn't compatible

[@stephen_cs]

@@iClone101 yeah, love having usb c on my MacBook

[@insert_username_here]

@@michaelvigil5321 that’s what I do, except with normal charging and fast charging. How little the times have changed.

[@cubehead-exists]

1:05 Introduction 3:14 USB 1.0 Standard Type B 4:52 USB 2.0 Mini B 6:27 USB 2.0 OTG 9:11 USB Micro

[@makelgrax]

Thanks!

[@bkebradley]

"Micro USB is more robust", yet Micro USB ports are the ones that always seem to break. They're in fact the only USB port I've ever broken, and it's happened probably half a dozen times.

[@Membrane556]

Only kind I ever had to replace on a phone.

[@MP-tz2yn]

That's why I detest micro USB. I can almost not go back to it at all after USBc

[@Hopkins132]

Because they're the only ones you plug and unplug 10000 times

[@750tiprogamer]

I think the quality can change a lot between different micro usb cables you can buy, and some last a while and some break in a month and don't work. I'd rather use usb-c though

[@Liggliluff]

Because there's a difference in the usage of the word "robust" between you and USB. USB's usage means it'll hold for a lot of plugging in and out, much more than previous ports. Your usage means that it won't break apart or bend or something, which is something else that USB didn't consider here.

[@gutter_onion7855]

I've known about the "logo facing up" thing for a few years now, but I still go by my tried and true method (for normally orientated ports), of "the two empty square holes face up"

[@ElmerCat]

A computer-illiterate friend of mine calls the USB logo "The Cactus". 🌵

[@Camelotsmoon]

I don't have a method, I literally just try jamming it in, sometimes I'm lucky and sometimes not; I love usb c lol, can't wait till everyone usb cs it up.

[@KuraIthys]

lol. I actually have 2 or 3 'universal' USB cables. The type A connector is a non-standard design. (probably more fragile) The quirk is, it can be plugged in either way around. (and still it sometimes seems like a struggle to plug them in. XD)

[@wisteela]

And there's a line/gap on the bottom side

[@Gribbo9999]

I go for the tried and tested - Try it one way if it doesn't fit, try it the other way.

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

One aspect of USB that I've always admired is how you don't have to worry about IRQ's, bit rates, null characters and all that other techy parallel and serial port stuff. The devices just work it out on their own. The fact they pulled that off with just 4 connectors is staggering.

[@jannoelandes2669]

In a single minute this man fixed the long agonizing pain of plugging a usb by the first attempt.

[@emmettturner9452]

3:55 - "If you can see the USB logo on the top of the plug you're plugging it in the right way" It's actually supposed to line up with a logo next to the receiving port you're plugging the cable into. I saw this violated once by a USB-IF member, no less! Apple's official USB to Lightning adapter has it backwards on the microUSB-B side. I think they wanted to hide the USB logo in their preferred orientation. Also, sideways USB A ports are supposed to have the logo printed to one side. You line up the logo on the cable with the logo near the host/A port so you aren't always thrown for a loop when they are sideways. These days you are more likely to be screwed by horizontal ports on machines too thin and light to have a USB logo on the same side. Graciously, some will print the logo on the top edge of your device so you can still line up with that.

[@gutter_onion7855]

I've known about the "logo facing up" thing for a few years now, but I still go by my tried and true method (for normally orientated ports), of "the two empty square holes face up".

[@emmettturner9452]

@@gutter_onion7855 Yep, and that works great for those devices but lining up the logos works more universally... even for sideways ports. ;)

[@TheMixedupstuff]

Manufacturer's all have the same orientation for the USB receptacle (at least for A). The side of the receptacle on the PCB is always the USB logo side. You can easily see this with a desktop motherboard.

[@paulosullivan3472]

In theory yes but I have seen several devices which have violated that. I dont think the average person knows about that anyway making it sort of pointless as a user friendly indicator.

[@emmettturner9452]

@ Yes. Phones typically don't have the corresponding logo to line up with and their orientation is dictated by internal layout and parts-bin engineering. It's the A side where this advice is most useful, but when there is a logo next to a B port it is supposed to align with the logo on the cable... unlike the Apple Lightning microUSB adapter (shame on you, Apple!). :)

[@CanONuke]

"If the USB logo is up, it is the right way" *Laughs in every single electronics currently owned*

[@MadScientist267]

Yeah got a good chuckle there too... Total bullshit lol

[@gleggett3817]

The cable may be the right way up; but the manufacturer put the socket in the wrong way up.

[@goaztek]

what about vertical slots?

[@TheDeathmail]

The funny thing is... it doesn't matter... you can try plugging it in, fail, turn it, fail, turn it and then succeed... meaning you needed to turn it twice... it's a cursed plug...

[@cyanized]

@@TheDeathmail Google USB superposition, lol.

[@zaharak6971]

Moral to the story: you can either have universal compatibility or you can just keep getting better.

[@chickenpower5732]

69 like pog

[@Walht]

Zaharak 88 like ! ☄️nazi number

[@shizustacean]

Shouldn't it be 99?

[@zaharak6971]

ugaiz.jpg ;)

[@hubertnnn]

*cough* USB-A *cough* But serously, why all the phones keep getting so small? Who needs a tiny phone?

[@antenna_prolly]

"[Micro USB has] durability past 10,000 cycles" press X to doubt

[@yeezet4592]

Idk I've never had issues

[@chistinelane]

That's because cable manufachtures cheap out

[@leifgiering]

Yeah mini-usb always lasted me longer; type-c is okay though.

[@taylorwoolston8856]

Mini-USB and USB-C are way better than Micro-USB.

[@gg-gn3re]

I have some that are like 10 years old. It amazes me how fast people destroy their cables.

[@DaNargh42]

"We need something more durable that mini USB. Enter the micro USB" Literally the least durable thing early on

[@harrison00xXx]

I used micro USB for many devices... finger pulse oxys, 2,5" external harddrives, an older android phone, multiple gamepads... Much connecting and disconnecting too, but no micro usb ever died. On 1 or 2 (sony ps4) gamepads the connector is already a bit loose and sometimes i have to move it a bit to charge it properly, but at all i never had issues with it. I had only bigger issues with regular USB Ports on a 11 year old MacBook Pro, they had annoying connection problems after they were used pretty much for 10 years, same problems already on a newer MacBook Pro i got used for cheap

[@inorite4553]

So much this

[@DaNargh42]

@@harrison00xXx The first time I dealt with micro USB was with a new generation of Sony Ericsson phone. For the first few weeks I was occasionally having issues of it not charging overnight and resorted to leaning it off a book to have it in the right "connection angle". Thought it was the phone but it turns out Sony were boxing extremely cheap cables from the get go

[@mjc0961]

And for some reason, manufacturers still give us that fragile piece of crap instead of using USB C.

[@l_shaun_bunds_l]

Kokainarienv0gel most careful man on the planet

[@greggv8]

USB IF: "USB Trident Logo goes on top." Apple Computer: "We'll see about that!" iMac debuts with upside down USB ports. Many PC clones have upside down front mounted USB ports. Did they copy iMac or were the designers of the cases just clueless?

[@bjarnenilsson80]

Wel the up/down method only works if the connector is mounted horizontal, what if, as in the case whirh recent imac models the usp potrs at mounted underthe device (aio mounted on stand (incuded)), is the logo supposed to face forward or bach dieas the usb if say anything about that?

[@darkmann12]

apple is fucking clueless and retarded so i kinda expected that

[@josselincol]

@@bjarnenilsson80 Left is the up of sides.

[@MrMattumbo]

I bet they put their logo on the bottom of the USB connector so by flipping the receptacle they make it so you have to face their logo up. Typical Apple, it's a company based on brand narcissism.

[@MaartenvanHeek]

My card reader has this problem

[@schwifty6855]

Omg. It's not a great idea to start watching these late at night. You may end up not sleeping and binge watching. Love ya vids

[@avacado6399]

I bought the lightning adapter because it was cheaper than an actual apple cable

[@MuchWhittering]

My old phone had micro-USB. It got to the point that the cable only worked in a VERY specific position, so I had to be very careful when plugging it in to charge. Data transfer didn't work at all, and charging was only with 1 specific cable that had warped along with it.

[@WolfgangDoW]

Know that pain so well!!!

[@goronslime1469]

This is the most relatable comment here

[@alanhaywood01]

Same as my Sony A6000 camera. Fortunately the cable was so crap it fell apart after 3 months

[@prasanttwo281]

I'm living this right now... except my phone only charges through my computer, taking up one valuable USB port that I have to keep pulling out to connect my mouse or something, *and* it takes more than 6 hours to fully charge Can I... can I solder up material on the connectors inside the port or something? Has anyone done this? How can I fix this please help (Can't go get it repaired because pandemic and lockdown and what not)

[@gripitripit6193]

Complete garbage i was in the same boat didn’t take long for me to switch to z iPhone

[@igorthelight]

"Do you want to be a host or a slave?" - Goa'uld

[@cheater00]

i mean... i know this video was uploaded JUST before the sh!t hit the fan, but seriously... "surrogate" is a much better word than "slave device".

[@5bars3g36]

"A Host Chooses, A Slave Obeys" --Andrew Ryan

[@dundonrl]

Ever worked on a car? Your brakes have a master cylinder and slave cylinders.

[@dundonrl]

@@cheater00 Till someone decides that surrogate sounds too much like slave and deems it racist.

[@cheater00]

@@dundonrl sure, Klan

[@Noisy_Snax]

I just spent just under 21 minutes learning about wires. Time well spent.

[@RockinEnabled]

Now you know the ropes!

[@Noisy_Snax]

@@RockinEnabled no, ropes is a whole different video

[@SSunnie_]

"Look for the USB logo on the top of the plug." Me: *Looks at my cables* No USB logo on both sides. Me: Well aight then so that was a lie.

[@ThadMiller1]

The holes on top.

[@wesleymays1931]

@@ThadMiller1 A few of my cables don't have any of the square holes on them.

[@ThadMiller1]

@@wesleymays1931 USB-A? 1of100

[@AmericanIdiot7659]

@@ThadMiller1 Cries in logitech USB

[@kaldo_kaldo]

That means you bought a cheap cable that couldn't afford USB certification

[@crusinscamp]

I had to laugh at the closing line. When we got our very first IBM compatible, a Packard Bell, we got the obligatory parallel cable for the printer (and as I remember, it wasn't cheap). That darn parallel cable outlasted many computer and printer upgrades. For years it seemed to be the only component that would make it from transition to transition.

[@quazar5017]

quality!

[@makelgrax]

Well, that isn't quite a good thing, I'm not sure of the specific parallel cable you had, but a cable can only last that long through sheer luck and cautious usage, or it being one of those models that put stress on the device (which is really bad and the last few standards solve)

[@jonc4403]

@@makelgrax Or a 25 pin D-sub connector is so sturdy that both the cable and the device are functional decades later. And that's actually what happened, those ports and cables are far more rugged than what would have been required for a design life of 15 years or so, and still work flawlessly 40+ years later.

[@GashimahironChl]

@@jonc4403 I guess back in the day, this economy of scale stuff and cost-cutting engineering wasn't fully developed yet, nowadays we have designs cut down to a cost that fail almost exactly when the manufacturer wants it to, which is usually shortly after warranty expires With all that, in one hand more people can buy more things since it's all cheaper, but on the other hand if you want to pay more for something that will last and can be repaired, chances are it's been phased out and now you have to just go and buy the cheap stuff repeatedly like everyone else.

[@TrueMechTech]

one of my monitors is connected by a VGA cable that was made before I was born.

[@Tim_3100]

Usb C I think is probably the best version I have seen it's much easier and and I like it micro USB is really bad they just break so easily

[@DFX2KX]

The thing with MicroUSB: The connector *design* is REALLY sound. like, stupidly so. However, the just-bearly-to-spec connectors put on cheap electronics and cheap cables ruined it. I've got an old Moto RAZR floating around, and that connector is still rock solid. the phones I got after that, though.... not so much.

[@Safetytrousers]

@@DFX2KX I've just had to return a USB fan unit because the unit connection became loose and unusable.

[@objective7042]

Personally, USB C is way superior for new devices. But for Bluetooth devices, micro USB charging is way better due to its low profile. USB C is way to wide for Bluetooth devices like wireless headphones.

[@franksmith7271]

@@Safetytrousers plot twist, you are the unit.

[@haloharry97]

It is sad, I've had 2 usb c break on me in the last few years, but never has usb mini or micro broken on me.

[@alittlebitgone]

It is simply stunning that the USB group was not forward thinking enough to see that computing devices would get smaller over time.

[@ALLSTARDECOURO2]

they probably did, but it wasn't needed at the time. we all thought at some point there would be flying cars but it hasnt happened at least yet

[@-long-]

There are two types of people: - Those who successfully plug in type-A cable after 3 trials. - And those who only need 2

[@TheCompleteMental]

And gods

[@thatannoyingkid871]

@@TheCompleteMental I guess I am a God then

[@CoolGuyMcgeez]

@@TheCompleteMental I like your pfp I’m glad it hasn’t died yet

[@TheNiteNinja19]

Hell I'm the kind of person who will be blindly jamming a USB cable into an HDMI port by accident. After realizing it's the HDMI port, into the network jack it went...

[@Youtubeiscoolandgreat]

And the elite who do it first try

[@robj7481]

As an electronics designer, I can tell you why USB keeps changing.. because as much as I try to design for future anticipated needs, somebody ALWAYS comes along and wants to use my design in an unanticipated way.

[@earthstar2493]

Like plugging it into something electronic?

[@radornkeldam]

And then there's this thunderbolt thing using USB-C connectors and adding to the confusion.

[@Core2lee91]

Let's not forget display port over USB-C too!

[@jessepatterson8897]

@@Core2lee91 don't thunderbolt 3 cables perform all these actions? there is a single cable.

[@Core2lee91]

@@jessepatterson8897 It does perform all those functions and more! The issue is... not all devices have Thunderbolt 3, and its certainly not as "universal" as USB outside of the world of Intel and Apple.

[@TheRailroad99]

USB 4 (already specified) will solve this, as it will unite thunderbolt and USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, the current USB standard. Hopefully it will clear the mess. However, even in the future not every cable will be a fully featured C cable (as they are thick and expensive). I hope there will be three cable types: - charging (PD) with USB 2.0 - USB 3.x (with added Superspeed conductors) - full 4.0 (USB 3 + PCIe("Thunderbolt") + Displayport)

[@radornkeldam]

@@TheRailroad99 chances are it won't, though.

[@jimmyzhao2673]

Was it the movie 'Independence Day' ? That they plugged into the Alien computer to upload a virus ? Always makes me laugh.

[@levyata8964]

USB type C had to be done. Having both sides extends the longevity of the damned pins

[@magusperde365]

It just wont fucking stays in its fucking socket

[@i0x37]

@@magusperde365 stays in mine fine

[@leonardo9259]

@@magusperde365 skill issue

[@sonetagu1337]

@@leonardo9259 wait, it is a skill that can be mas- Oh wait.... neeevermind....

[@9tr0n]

@@magusperde365 thats a problem with the port not the cable

[@youreperfectstudio4789]

Let's just make a 24pin edge connector and only use 4 of the pins. Future proof for a long time and super duper thin!

[@nilswegner2881]

Isn't that what the apple 30 pin connector on the old iPhones did? I mean, it was a thin connector design that had 30 pins but for charging at least only 2 pins were necessary

[@Autunite]

@@nilswegner2881 I think their connector was made with the intention of having lots of accessories that could have direct contact with the phone without relying on a data bus. For example microphone, audio, video etc. can be transferred with analog signals trough that port.

[@nilswegner2881]

@@Autunite I think the first ipods that featured the 30 pin connector even had firewire over that connector. And of course audio and analog video can be fed over it as well, I still have my ipod touch 3rd Gen and a dock for it that has a composite video socket and a 3.5mm jack socket for audio. What I was saying with my original comment was that a lot of people only used their 30 pin cables for charging their iPhones which requires only two pins, one for 5 volts and one for ground or transferring data from and to their devices which requires, for USB at least, 4 pins: 5v, gnd, data+ and data-.

[@thewiirocks]

Not really a good idea. USB solved the low transfer rates of earlier parallel cables by reducing the interface to the fewest cables needed to carry a single serial signal. Ramping up the serial transfer turned out to be a lot easier (and cheaper!) when you didn't have to worry about EM interference between your wires. This is the same reason that SATA replaced the SCSI/IDE standards. The problem isn't the number of pins, but rather meeting the electrical specifications needed to carry a signal at the speed needed. The extra pins in some of the USB standards are really red-herrings. They are either almost-dummy pins intended to negotiate the connection before use, or a completely alternate pathway intended to support some silly idea of backwards compatibility.

[@goreobsessed2308]

They would avoid it saying th extra pins are just a waste of money. I love the free market bit it doesn't allow for this kind of thing

[@firefox30570]

"it seems like the dream of a single cable suitable for all, even 20 years, still hasnt qute become reality" im looking at you apple

[@justauser]

And manufacturers who STILL make micro USB and mini USB and USB A things. The NEW xbox came with USB A plugs and no USB C ... why 😥

[@raymondramirez9177]

Apple is abandoning the Lightning interface because the cables are so expensive (unless you buy a cheap Chinese illegal clone). They are changing to USB C. Just go through their stores (online or at shopping centers) and look at their ports.

[@phyzix_phyzix]

@@raymondramirez9177 how can a cable be illegal? Sounds like Apple wants to monopolize their accessories.

[@thomasfrisch948]

@@phyzix_phyzix apple owns the lightning standard and thus cannot be manufactured without their approval

[@MoritzVieli]

@@phyzix_phyzix it‘s not only a cable. It includes business logic for security, which needs to be licenced and so on.

[@finmueller7827]

Here's my 2 cents, big USB (like USB ports your mouse use) should stay for things like that, mice and keyboards, since most times you're reaching around back to plug it in and having a bigger port can make it easier to find where to plug it in, and USB C should be for things more accessible, laptops, phones, chargers, etc, stuff that you'll be able to see and plug things into easier

[@Barnardrab]

There's no reason keyboards and mice should use the bulkier cables over the small ones. All of it can be conveniently handled with USB-C.

[@Barnardrab]

@ghost mall I'd say that the larger ones on Desktop are redundant because it can just as easily support USBC. The older USBs should be phased out.

[@richardsequeirateixeira]

I say keep both. USB A is not really problematic and very durable.

[@danielkarlsson8850]

USB: The cable you have to flip 3 times to fit.

[@DeathBringer769]

At least USB-C finally fixed that.

[@gorlix]

@@DeathBringer769 and still somehow i only manage to use one side, like everytime

[@differentbutsimilar7893]

@@DeathBringer769 On one side, anyway...

[@AmericanIdiot7659]

cries in logitech USB

[@tre4tra807]

Me complaining to my children years from now: back in my day you put the cable in wrong flipped it and realized you had it the right way the first time Kids: nobody uses wired chargers anymore god dad youre so old🙄

[@CarimboHanky]

feeling a bit old now when you realize you have lived through all this usb changes 😂

[@tonykriss1594]

Also kinda refreshing that we have such powerful ones compare to years ago like we can fully charge a phone under one hour now. "We used to leave our phone on charger all night AND pack a backup battery to survive the day you ungrateful kids"

[@hydraulicsystems332]

I'm getting flashbacks of PS and PS/2 keyboard ports.

[@bjarnenilsson80]

Hydraulic Shenanigans tot to mention rs232c and epp fun times never had to deal with scsi . Ethernet over coax at school,in the Kate 1990s, fun times when on link broke the hole c,assroom wgent of line a btc t junction at every network card

[@gunfuego]

LoL Remember firewire? 🤣

[@bjarnenilsson80]

@@gunfuego yes, not had any use fore it for a long time tho

[@NicholasBrakespear]

This video has taught me that I've had my external hard drive plugged in the wrong USB port this whole time. It's 3.0. I didn't have it in a 3.0 slot.

[@MmeHyraelle]

Just limited to like 30mbs

[@wesleymays1931]

Intergenerational compatibility, more or less. Just don't plug a Micro-USB 3 cable into a Micro-USB 2 port, because that doesn't work. USB: The ubiquitous failed attempt to get all computer peripherals onto one connector.

[@TheArtOfBeingANerd]

I don't usually have the subtitles on, but they were on for this video and I don't regret it. Look at 1:01 [Jazz music lingers in the USB filled air]

[@cyb3r_fox114]

Time traveler: What are you doing? Me: Trying to figure out which of these damn USB cables works Time traveler: Oh I know how you feel, have you tried USB Z yet? Me:No I haven’t tr... *Z!?!?*

[@pavelpanayotov1254]

Time traveler 2.0: cables ?

[@forkrolls]

usb Z is also directly compatible with human orifices

[@scaper8]

@@forkrolls But not with any of the six extraterrestrial species that also now inhabit the earth. Each of those have their own USB. They have adapters, but they're hit-or-miss. Don't worry though, they're working on a new standard: U-USB, Universal Universal Serial Bus. From here on out, it'll be one cable, mark my words….

[@rever4217]

@@scaper8 Ah the touted M-USB, multi-universal serial bus

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

Time traveler: They were having an off day with plasmagate on type H, but type Z is certainly the final one! One day later the time traveler returns They just released USB type Alpha, it fixes all the problems of USB type Z and trebles data throughput!

[@turle8645]

"micro usb" "durable" good one

[@lexecomplexe4083]

Replacing the micro usb ports on older phones is always such a hassle lol

[@kamX-rz4uy]

If a device has a micro usb port I only buy it if there is no other option. I've had to replace too many of them and throw items out/recycle due to bad ports.

[@mx2000]

You haven't used miniUSB then, that was really not durable

[@viperlife914]

@Wuanslm yes yes this yes yes this yes this idk how much yes his comment is this yes

[@spvillano]

@@mx2000 I've yet to have my mini-UDB cables fail. Micro-USB incessantly fail through metal fatigue. I also had one micro-USB circuit board connector fail, but I blame the vendor's method of installation of the damnable thing.

[@stevenjlovelace]

The Micro B Super Speed has got to be one of the ugliest connectors devised, at least in recent history.

[@goodclover]

What were they even thinking? I have never seen one in use and it was too impactical for anyone to use, no wonder phones stuck (and alot still do) to the slower micro b

[@ohnoitschris]

It looks like a parody of a slapdash plug from an alternate universe

[@Camelotsmoon]

I remember Samsung phones had it for like 1 or 2 models (note 2 or note 3?), but then it disappeared off those and I never saw it again besides an old external hard drive I have....I better never need a new cable for that thing, cuz it'll be impossible to find one lol.

[@StarmenRock]

Hoooly shit, its only used on the most important shit like portable drives.... what a disaster.

[@thisisaloadofbarnacles921]

It made it so you could use a 2.0 connector if you only had it, pretty useful actually

[@JD_Mortal]

10,000 cycles... I haven't found ONE USB connection, or cable, that lasted more than 2 years, unless it was never touched after being plugged-in... Barely 700 cycles. So much for standards and minimum cycles.

[@calebkeefer4943]

*Mom* : "Why are there so many micro usb cables?" *Me* : "In case of an emergency" *Mom* : "Then why all of these mini usb cables? *Me* : "IN CasE oF an EveN BiGGEr EmerGenCY"

[@calebkeefer4943]

@Stary KABAKOKSEK I got a odb2/obd1 car scanner, it's a top of the line model and is a quite new actron that uses mini USB, call me biased but I feel like mini USB is a stronger port in general compared to micro

[@qq84]

@@calebkeefer4943 That´s why USB-C is much stronger than micro. If you need even more strength, there is an (fully compatible) industrial version of USB-C.

[@slaternapier1640]

some of those old ones may not power/transfer data to current devices depending on the specs of a specific cable-to-specs of device...

[@CazRaX]

@@calebkeefer4943 I agree, I have broken MANY micro cables but none of my mini devices have broken and I am even still using OG cables on them. They just seem stronger to me and just like blowing on an NES cartridge to make them work I will insert my reality and just ignore the experts on this.

[@mattshark7665]

@@CazRaX micro usb is a nightmare in terms of reliability and quality of cable and connector.

[@samiraperi467]

"If you see the USB logo on the top of the plug you're plugging it the right way." Oh it only that were true. There's nothing stopping manufacturers from designing the devices so the host port goes logically upside down. :P

[@iClone101]

And then some cable manufacturers decide to either get rid of the USB logo entirely, or replace it with their brand logo BUT put it on both sides.

[@patcallahan1050]

The USB standard: Won't fit, flip and won't fit, flip and plug in.

[@Snagabott]

It's well known in quantum mechancis circles that USB's have spin 1/2.

[@wxx3]

And I thought it was just me!

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

Still true for C TBH...

[@KertaDrake]

@@CakePrincessCelestia Type C ports are amorphous life forms that change shape when unobserved. You will never successfully plug one in without looking at it.

[@bschena]

The joke in the industry is that the A style has *3* sides.

[@randyflores2489]

Sick video. I wondered this a couple years ago and assumed it was for speed, learning about everything else was cooler than I'd expect lol.

[@JayceeR]

Micro USB: 10,000 cycles Me: lasted only 3 months.

[@Scooteroy]

And even less for USB C?

[@LR_Bushido]

@@Scooteroy usb-c is honestly the best plug-in I've ever used. I've never had a single issue of one falling out. Wiggly maybe from lint but never fell out

[@Persun_McPersonson]

@@Scooteroy USB-C actually has the highest amount of cycles depending on the cable.

[@Scooteroy]

@@LR_Bushido ​ @Persun McPersonson Ok well I've experienced differently so that's why I say it.

[@scarffoxandfriends9401]

@@LR_Bushido My Samsung USB-C port lost it's grip within a year. Meanwhile all my Micro USB devices still work. Handle all of them exactly the same and there's been time my Micro USB devices have hanged from the port. Pair that with the horrible burn in my phone has thanks to OLED, this is the shortest lasting phone I've ever had despite being the most expensive.

[@taylorwoolston8856]

It's unbelieveable that it's 2021, and MicroUSB is still hanging around in a few new devices. I get that these companies want to save every last possible penny, but come on!

[@edwardfletcher7790]

It's a good thing, because EVERY single home on the planet has spare cables and chargers to suit.

[@bunnyben5607]

Micro-B is still a good standard imo. Like you say, USB-C has that glaring problem of being expensive to implement. C is extremely useful for its versatility, being able to run as a display, charge and transfer data. Micro is useful for its lack of "bells and whistles" so to speak, its data transfer rates are slow, yes, but for somebody who just wants a charger and nothing else it's perfect.

[@insert_username_here]

@@calebmauer1751 you could get one of those magnetic cables like the Wsken X2 which essentially converts the connector to the magnetic one. They have adaptors for micro USB, USB-C and lightning. It’s actually quite nice since I’ve uniformed all my devices with that magnetic cable.

[@TylerMcVeigh1]

Shout out to Texas Instruments for still using USB Minis in the redesigned Ti-84 calculators.

[@harrylane4]

I saw MINI usb on something a few years ago. Why???

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

Democratic Republic of.. - not democratic Free ... - definitely not free USB - not flipping universal

[@aaronmicalowe]

Yup, the only constant is change.

[@dan_loup]

The Free People's Universal Democratic Just and Fair Republic of..

[@Atrahasis7]

Its a long standing tradition like the Holy Roman Empire.

[@klym8_]

Democratic Republic of Free USB

[@ChrisPollitt]

And Open ... not being open at all (e.g. SCO Open Server)

[@Goatcha_M]

04:00 Doesn't help when the port is upside down or sideways, or when the cable lacks the logo.

[@VinsCool]

Ah man... The amount of micro USB devices I broke due to having such a fragile design... So many times I inserted cables and fought just to get a minute of charge, to eventually break the port entirely due to aggressively wiggling the cable in. I am SO glad USB C is a thing now. A lot more reliable and thankfully, a lot more durable as well.

[@mcrecordings]

Never damaged one myself but I had to replace the (micro) USB charging board thingy on a relatives tablet three times... I remember mini USB ports being quite fragile, you could really see the wear and tear over time.

[@TheGingerburger]

@@mcrecordings it must be like a lottery because I've had the opposite experiences, Mini has never broken on me but Micro has a few times and the cables all the time

[@terribleauthority]

No one's fault that you're a brute.

[@mcrecordings]

@@TheGingerburger I had a Motorola L7 where the mini usb was a combined headphone and charging port (wonder where Apple got that idea...), and you could really see the port degradation. I will say it's the only device I really remember it happening on, as back then you typically had proprietary chargers and used USB for data transfer.

[@dylanharding5720]

@@mcrecordings what I've found is that if a cable starts to have issues, replace the cable rather than trying to get it working. It really helps the sockets lifespan. The only micro USB port I have with issues is my Xbox controller, but that's because its become misaligned.

[@Daz555Daz]

Mini B connection was rock solid. All my old devices with this connector are still perfect - unlike the shoddy micro-usb which is by far the worst common thing ever to have hit the USB standard.

[@simonalishalee1861]

Concur.

[@steveb1972]

Totally agree!👍🏻

[@coffeemakerbottomcracked]

I think USB-C is the best, just because it is reversible, and it looks cooler lmao

[@vel5724]

⃠HARAM ⃠ oh just wait until your laptops pins wear and make crap connection, you will be back to flipping but cussing that your laptop hasn’t charged for the past hour lol

[@UrvineSpiegel]

What does USB stand for? "Univer.." I'm gonna stop you right there.

[@sgillman16]

Universal Aerial Bus

[@OyebayoOyekole]

The opposite of USA

[@bradbergman3673]

You are confused between the physical connectors and the theory of operation of serial communications. OBVIOUSLY the connectors were NEVER intended to be universal. It's OBVIOUS from the fact that from the beginning USB has 2 different connectors... A and B. Knowing the history of serial communications between computers and peripherals clarifies. On early desktops users had to specify in operating system settings a number of parameters such as bit rate, parity and stop bits to make it possible for a serial port to communicate with serial peripherals. The reason the user had to specify the settings is because the hardware that drove the old serial ports were incapable of negotiating those settings on their own. They were that primitive. Advances in the technology produced chips that can negotiate the settings on their own without user intervention. They were considered "universal" because you could unplug a USB device from your PC and plug it into a different PC and PCdevices that were equipped with such chips beaqme known asthey were at the time like modems, serial printers

[@zephranarx2172]

We better get a circular USB to be the standard some day, just so we don't have to struggle to plug in in the dark in general.

[@redstonerti9918]

Smart

[@macbuff81]

With USB-C, they finally came up with something useful. For some reason though, that annoying USB A port still appears on new motherboards (well, except for newer Apple MacBooks. They only use the much better aforementioned USB C/Thunderbolt 3 port)

[@kalijasin]

NOT this late in the game.

[@chiefkeef74]

Meanwhile Apple still has to do shit THEIR way. And they wonder why Android outsells them

[@SanderEvers]

@@chiefkeef74 Apple actually introduced USB-C with Thunderbolt 3. And the iPad Pros and Macs all have USB-C right now. The only reason it's not in the iPhone, simpy because Lightning is thinner.

[@princesidon]

@@chiefkeef74 They don't. And also Mr./Ms./Mx. Evers took the words out of my mouth. I'd also like to add the fact that they get royalties too.

[@gabe8168]

@@SanderEvers now the problem is you have one device that supports thunderbolt cables and one that doesn't. And both cables have a usb c connector

[@9redwoods]

"If you can see the USB logo on the top of the plug, then you're plugging it in the right way." Then I guess half of my USB ports were just implemented upside-down?

[@cashkromsupernerd1193]

No, that just means your device is upside down. Good luck keeping the paper in your printer!

[@sunnyscott4876]

LOL. That was my first thought! If I t doesn't fit, I just turn my device upside down!: 💖🧡❤ Works every time !

[@diakounknown1225]

@@cashkromsupernerd1193 Then my phone is upside down then when I cans see the screen??

[@esseferio]

I'm sad you didn't mention 5V, 12V and 24V PoweredUSB / Retail USB :)

[@nohero23]

Or the fact that the USB Standard changed to allow 1.0A (instead of 0.5A) over 5V for phone charging. Adding more confusion to the standard, as broken devices misbehave when requesting/providing a bump from 0.5A to 1.0A.

[@harrison00xXx]

@@nohero23 not to mention that some apple devices allows 1A charging at any apple mobile device, while if they recognize a non apple device(but 10W charging capabilites!), they limit the current still to 0,5Amps so you can barely charge a modern android phone with big screen/battery

[@dregenius]

Kokainarienv0gel wasn’t it because Android device manufacturers often cheaped out and used voltage divider resistors rather than incorporating proper communications into the charger to negotiate charge current? I do recall that there was an additional specification for charging and power delivery, which wasn’t part of the original USB 2.0 spec. The takeaway is that Apple did it the more expensive/reliable/thorough way, and Android as usual, did it the cheap way.

[@mateuszzimon8216]

@@dregenius ^^That's words from Apple fanboy USB PD as standard have communication, yes cheap charger have voltage divider but proper USB charger have negotiation phase to rise current and voltage

[@MrGarethG]

I've got an old Dell Latitude laptop that uses the powered connector for it's external DVD drive. I wonder what POS terminals need those voltages for though?

[@cobble616]

As much as the changing is annoying, Im glad that usb is the only standard thar keeps changing, rather than many standards changing all the time

[@Valcuda]

I honestly don't care that there's 5 or so different USB ports. As non-universal as they are, it's still a lot nicer to have a couple of USB ports rather than a different port for each device. I have an old Boombox and a new mic that both use a USB B connector despite being made years apart and by separate companies. I also have a couple devices that use Micro USB despite some being expensive devices, and 2 being cheap Bluetooth headphones. Not to mention the fact that most computers still have the tried and true USB A port. My desktop is from the early 2000s and I have a laptop from 2017, and both can use the same devices. I feel like we need multiple different USB versions, as USB C, the closest to being universal is also incredibly confusing with different port and wire types that are almost if not identical. The way I see it, HDMI is for video, USB A is for computers and extensions, Micro USB and USB C is for small devices and charging, and 2.5mm audio jack is for audio. Honestly I feel like we should have a cable for each base purpose so it can be optimized for said purpose, and you immediately know what something does. When you see HDMI you know that's a video port, when you see a headphone jack you know it's an audio port, when you see USB A you know it's an expansion port. I'm not against having 1 cable, but I feel like it's not necessary, especially if it has drawbacks like needing a specific cable (unless you spend a lot to get an all in 1 cable)

[@bogartwilley]

USB-C is more useful than you may think. It can carry an internet signal, audio signal, video signal, provide power, and had the fastest transfer rate of the of them, also can be converted into HDMI as well.

[@Valcuda]

@@bogartwilley Yeah I'm not trying to hate on USB C, honestly having just 1 cable would be a dream. If it's the fastest type overall, then I have no issue with it, my logic was just that a cable for each type would allow for better optimization, but if we can do just fine with 1 cord, I'm perfectly fine with it

[@sUmEgIaMbRuS]

@@bogartwilley What you refer to is currently a dream. Yes, the port and cable standards for USB-C _theoretically_ allow Ethernet, HDMI, audio, high-power charging, whatever you want to throw at it. BUT. Loads of cheap devices exist with plain USB 2.0 hardware behind that fancy new connector. And even the ones that properly implement 3.1 seldom support any of the so-called alternate modes, such as HDMI or Ethernet. And this usually isn't even listed in *any* kind of specification whatsoever. I spent weeks recently, trying to find a Type-C USB hub with HDMI and Ethernet (so basically a laptop docking station) that actually works. There are loads, but most are actually Thunderbolt 3, which is only supported by the most expensive laptops, but looks completely identical - this is only mentioned in the small print of course. And then there are the handful that are actually USB not Thunderbolt, but they require the previously mentioned alternate modes to work properly. It's one thing that my budget laptop can't do those, it's actually surprising that it has a Type-C port in the first place. But I failed to find *any* laptop specification pages on the internet that explicitly mention whether or not the device in question supports these modes. Not. A. Single. One. Then I even wrote to some of the laptop makers, asking about this info for specific products. The sales/support people didn't even know what I was on about. So we're definitely a long way from the utopia of being able to look at a port and instantly know what it can do, not to mention having a port that can actually _reliably_ do all things it claims it can. In the current state of things, the chance of two USB-C devices actually working together properly is about the same as getting a match on Tinder. Oh, and I almost forgot the best part. When you plug a 3.1 hub into a Type-C port that doesn't support the fancypants alternate modes, it falls back to USB *2.0* So even the USB 3.0 ports won't work at full speed. And how does the computer inform its user about this little debacle? By listing an obscure "USB 2.0 BILLBOARD" in Device Manager. Seriously. It's called a billboard, because it's supposed to grab the user's attention and inform them that something is wrong. But it only shows up in Device Manager, and only if you expand "USB Controllers." And even a tech-savvy user has to google what it means.

[@robertmaske2030]

@@sUmEgIaMbRuS i feel ya

[@SBerTtube]

2.5mm for audio instead of the commonly used 3.5mm? Why do you hate everyone around you? :(

[@NFSHeld]

"If the USB logo is up, it's the right way around" *looks at Corsair Virtuoso SE headset's USB cable* Yeah, or the manufacturer thought "Hey, wouldn't it be great if OUR logo instead of the USB logo was facing up towards the user?"

[@DeathBringer769]

Yup, definitely not an absolute rule. There's tons of exceptions, like the one you mentioned. You can never trust manufacturers/designers to all follow the same things, especially when it's often viewed to be mostly superficial.

[@weatheranddarkness]

I don't know if it was the first, but Apple was probably the biggest actor to fuck that pooch. I think it was that they mounted the sockets in the original iMac keyboard upside down.

[@jhanschoo]

13:00 just fyi, it's "change tack", which has nautical navigational significance that has acquired figurative meaning.

[@nowthatsjustducky]

Haven't got to that yet, but I am guessing the usage being corrected was intended to be an abbreviating of tactics.

[@schoo9256]

Yeah "change tact" is just plain wrong. Good video tho

[@atomotron]

I personally am fan of jack connectors. Sure, they need some space, they need some force to operate, and probably not as cheap to manufacture as stamped USBs. But, in my opinion, it is worth it, since you can insert it in any way possible and rotate it while being plugged in - a huge plus for wired connector. Other than that, magsafe mechanism really picks my attention, and I think it should be used wherever it is tolerable, for example, for charging cable. I've lost count how many times it saved my macbook from falling from the table or from my hands when moving it. Sadly, USB has nothing from any of them, even in the latest USB-C iteration.

[@SiddheshBagade]

USB alliance exists* Apple lightning: I’ll pretend I didn’t see that

[@lzh4950]

Supposedly I heard that Lightning offers tighter data security? But on the flip side Lightining can't support any electrical charging current of more than 1A - hence no fast charging on iOS devices

[@neyoid]

@@lzh4950 Lightning is just a connector: it just puts the electricity into the phone. It has nothing to do with security

[@Krisztian08]

@@neyoid yeah it's a stupid point. It's not like people can just, you know, snoop on the data going through a cable.

[@mistamaog]

@@lzh4950 That's just Apple's excuse for every bad decision they make.

[@asdfg-wumpeh]

I still prefer a male cable i put inside a female port (lightning) than a female cable i insert into a male port(usb), because the little connecter pin for usb c is still the breakpoint. Hopefully UBS4 looks like an lightning adapter because this would also allow manufactures to build in smaller ports

[@Thegonagle]

13:01 "Nokia needed to change tact." It's "change tack," a sailing term meaning to change the direction of a sailboat such that the wind hits the other side of the sail. Colloquially, to "change tack" means to change strategy.

[@schoo9256]

I always thought it was "change tac", as in change your tactics. Apparently I was wrong. The more you know!

[@SomeOrangeCat]

USB-C is definitely less fragile. I've been using the same cord for a year and a half. With Micro I was having to get a new cord every month or so.

[@userPrehistoricman]

You must be rough with your cables.

[@ram89572]

Good grief. In my whole life I’ve had maybe 2 micro b cables die. What do you do to those poor things?

[@onometre]

I had the same problem and all I ever used my cables for was plugging my phone in at night

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@ram89572 they might also be dollar store ones, which have much thinner metal sheet and the sheet can be slightly too tight in the socket and get pulled off the jack. Those are the only ones I've had break, but of course if you've had a lot break you'd be more inclined to buy a bundle of cheap cables for next time they break. Cables with thicker metal have higher tension and come off much less easily. Also maybe they have one or two devices with a socket that's slightly too tight. Lastly, if you're plugging and unplugging dozens of times a day it can stretch things out in a way that doing it once every day or two doesn't. So there's a combination of factors that might influence things.

[@ram89572]

Kaitlyn L Could be. I just know the only cables I’ve ever had break were really cheapo thin ones that came with a device. That’s why I just started buying good cables from name brands like Anker. Spend more money now to save less in the long run was how I was taught. There’s some things you can get by with getting the cheapest pos version out there, but anything you care about and don’t expect to throw away should always be a good quality product even if it does cost a bit more

[@marcom9103]

The upgrade to USB-C from Micro USB was definitely needed. Micro USB are so flimsy. The amount of them I've broken. Plus USB-C can plug in anyway making lift much easier

[@OnionChoppingNinja]

In the old days things where simple: look at the connector, count the holes or pins. Look at the port and count the pins or holes. Do the amount of pins on one match the amount of holes on the other? Yes? and optionally do the colors match? yes? then it belongs there.

[@TotemoGaijin]

That didn't stop people from still trying to plug the vga into the serial, lol.

[@hellterminator]

And up until USB C it still worked that way.

[@sebastjansslavitis3898]

I'm okay with USB C on phones and normal USB on computer.

[@TheShinbe]

You haven't say that, they listen.... We probably face USB 4 or D soon!!

[@ernestmac13]

I prefer USB-C on both a computer and phone, it's easy enough to plug in a USB-C to USB adapter for legacy hardware.

[@Vengir]

USB 4 requires the USB Type-C port. Eventually, if you want the fastest speed, you will need to use that.

[@TheXev]

Yeap, I can not wait for the day that everything is USB-C to USB-C. I want all of my PC ports to be USB-C.

[@JOCoStudio1]

Why? It would be far more convenient to have the same damn port on everything. It's not like you lose out by having a smaller port size. Sure, there will be an awkward transistion period, but if they manage not to screw it up this time, hopefully it will be the last one for a few years at least.

[@leonkernan]

"The USB logo goes on top" Tell that to the Lenovo all in one PC's we have at work.

[@KAZVorpal]

I watched this almost entirely because I was hoping you would go into some detail as to why the earlier nitwits couldn't figure out how to make the cable symmetric and the specification able to handle different power capacities and speeds going forward. The modern version does all these things in a way that, frankly, could always have been done and that some engineers always knew how to do.

[@woodstocktc]

2:14 i remember a time when pc mags were calling USB port inclusions on mainboards "Useless Serial Bus"es because there were simply no common devices for it ;p

[@Winchester1979]

That didn't last long, the hardware manufacturers caught on unbelievably quickly and started discontinuing serial, PS/2 and parallel port peripherals. Ports on the mainboard hung on for years, but by 1999/2000 it was getting difficult to find non-USB anything. It's also amazing how USB has basically outlived everything else that was touted as its replacement, even if it was by updating their own standards. Who even remembers IEEE 1394 (aka Firewire) anymore, for example?

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@Winchester1979 PS/2 still hangs in their on a lot of Motherboards for keyboards, as it's interface is better at polling, and N key rollover then USB for that specific roll, and RS232 serial ports can still be found knocking around because of industrial reasons, were it's a much more rugged port, then there is ODB2 for cars, HDMI, Display port, DVI, and VGA(I saw a 4K LG TV at Costco with a VGA port on it last Christmas) all hanging around for displays, and outside of that, and Apple being stubborn AF with some of their products, it really has taken over.

[@Winchester1979]

@@CommodoreFan64 If you want an RS232 port on a computer today, you'll either need to buy an expansion card for it, or the crazy expensive route of buying one of those hardened laptops that are specifically designed for industrial uses. I know PS/2 ports still exist on mainboards, but it's difficult as a consumer to find something retail to plug into it - if you want a PS/2 mouse or keyboard, you're going to have to order it online from somewhere. And yeah, display interfaces are still messy. I'm using one DVI-to-HDMI, one HDMI to HDMI, and one Displayport to HDMI cable to hook up my monitors to my desktop right now (the monitors all have HDMI inputs... I didn't have three HDMI outputs on my GPU, but I did have a DVI to HDMI cable so I only had to buy one new cable to plug everything in); my laptop needs a Micro-HDMI connector to hook up to the TV (and it sits too close to the micro-USB jack that it charges from to use both ports at the same time if I use a normal adapter); and all the monitors I've ever bought came with VGA cables, and I have a drawer full of them still in their bags because I haven't a VGA connector since 2002.

[@nilswegner2881]

@@Winchester1979 firewire is actually quite a cool thing imo because you can daisychain hard drives

[@Wiresgalore]

@@nilswegner2881 I believe recent Thunderbolt revisions have taken care of this functionality as well. All while consuming power from/delivering power to your devices, plenty of it at that.