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).