USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible

Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by jawns on Monday October 09, 2023 @07:50AM (#37819411)

I agree that there was more that could have been done to signal correct orientation.

But an additional wrinkle is that the orientation of the port itself was not static. On laptops and desktops, it was horizontal. On certain other devices, it was vertical. Often these ports were in hard-to-reach or hard-to-see places, and having to reconcile the orientation in each case probably added to the frustration.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by stavros on Monday October 09, 2023 @09:16AM (#37820159)

Not really, HDMI ports are in weird orientation and mounted in hard-to-reach places as well, but the shape makes it very obvious (even by feel) which way it should (or can't) go. This is much harder with the rectangular USB plug.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by SAI_Peregrinus on Monday October 09, 2023 @09:52AM (#37820457)

The "by feel" part is critical. Lots of ports on various devices are deliberately in the back of the device, or otherwise hidden, so that the wiring can be kept neatly out of the way.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by putlake on Monday October 09, 2023 @03:45PM (#37824571)

HDMI is better than USB but it's still hard to do plug it in in dark, hard to reach places.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by c22 on Monday October 09, 2023 @03:46PM (#37824584)

I have definitely been frustrated by an hdmi port I couldn't see. I almost always have to gain visibility on the port to get the cable inserted correctly. If I happen to already know the orientation of the port on a device I can do it by feel, but I could also do this with the microusb-b to my old cell phone.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by pnpnp on Monday October 09, 2023 @04:04PM (#37824802)

It’s still better than nothing at all! If you can physically see the connector, that’s a huge help. For USB-A, you often had to look into the cable to figure out which way it went.

I agree that HDMI can be heads or tails based on if it’s tucked behind a TV, but sometimes I can feel enough to get it right. That was never so with the original USB.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by loeg on Monday October 09, 2023 @05:21PM (#37825667)

HDMI can be a real pain to plug in blind / by feel.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by qup on Monday October 09, 2023 @05:32PM (#37825795)

I think it's worse than USB. It's so damn narrow and has a requirement for precision. It's hard to know if you've got it upside-down or you're just not well-aligned.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by saratogacx on Tuesday October 10, 2023 @12:43AM (#37828576)

I'll often use my phone and get a picture of the plugs on the device before I dive in with the cable. This is especially useful when working with gear I'd rather not have t0 move.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by josefx on Monday October 09, 2023 @03:57PM (#37824726)

> or hard-to-see places

Which brings up the idea of not making it size compatible with the network port.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by lxgr on Monday October 09, 2023 @04:41PM (#37825244)

As somebody who keeps inserting the USB-C charger cable into the SD card slot of the new MBP, I couldn't agree more.

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