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USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 83 points 2 years ago* (5 children)

they should just go with perfectly circular, with different sizes for different applications. imagine a 20mm unit - high power/bandwidth hoses with a satisfying locking mechanism that magnetically seals the connection.

and makes the proton pack sound. and rgb fuck nevermind go back this was a bad idea

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  • [–] 42 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Circular isn't a great idea, and here are most of the idea why it is not : https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/528821/why-dont-we-have-a-circular-usb-port

    USB required to have a stable connexion, as it's a digital signal and not an analog as jack ports, which just sends curent through it. Rotating the connector could maybe introduce issues for signal integrity.

    The usb connector has much more connectors than a jack port. It would take a very long hole to fit them all. (usb 3+, usb C...)

    Size constraint. USB C is flat, a round port is not. So it's bigger in 1 way, but smaller in the other, and so creates more design challenges.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Round is not round, that is, there's a difference between the likes of cinch and DIN (-style) connectors. Cinch can be rotated once inserted which indeed isn't ideal, but DIN are perfectly adequate signal-wise and you can rotate them into place, just like finding the begging of a thread when inserting a screw.

    Keyboards used five-pole DIN for the longest time and mice D-Sub (because serial), both changed to Mini-DIN 6, aka "PS/2 connectors". And never, ever, did anyone complain about getting the orientation wrong with DIN connectors.

    D-Sub are a bit iffy but at least you really do have a 50/50 chance as they don't jam like USB-A does. They also aren't actually rectangular and you can feel the matching angles on both female and male ends.

    Really, connectors went downhill with USB. HDMI and DisplayPort aren't really any better as you can't feel the shape of the socket, either. OTOH, one really nasty connector becomes rarer and rarer: Molex. Also you can't fry your motherboard by connecting the main power connection in the wrong way, any more (remember: Black to black).

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    And never, ever, did anyone complain about getting the orientation wrong with DIN connectors.

    Hah! Hardly. I have plenty of memories of endlessly rotating mouse and keyboard connectors as I reached behind a computer trying to insert it blindly, and somehow having to try half a dozen times before it finally found just the right orientation.

    There's also the issue on the older, large DIN connectors of pins getting bent or broken.

    We moved on from those things for darn good reason, and I for one have no interest in going back.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    I never bent a pin and as said, you can just turn them and at some point they'll align.

    The main downfall of DIN was foreign hifi companies standardising on cinch and SCART and German hifi manufacturers then switching over. You'll still see them in niche applications, though, probably the most common is MIDI.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yeah, mic cables are still standardized on this

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Nah that's XLR. More sturdy, they lock, and usually carry balanced signals. It's a pro audio thing and I've never seen it used for digital signals, DIN back in the day was in used for consumer stuff just as cinch is now. You probably also couldn't send as much phantom power over DIN.

    Both 3-pin XLR and 3-pin DIN are mono, but in DIN's case that's input/output, not balanced audio. From a consumer perspective that's very nice: Connecting a cassette player/recorder to the amp only uses a single 5-pin DIN cable.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Wouldn't fit very well into something like a smartphone though

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    We could have a compact version, say 3.5mm, with different segments to carry different signal types. More segments can be added to allow for additional features. It could work with audio, video, power, and other data transfer. That would fit ideally into a phone.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I love circular connectors that screw onto the receptacle or have locking tabs

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