Death to the Trapezoid... Next USB Connector Will Be Reversible 408
TheRealHocusLocus writes "Extreme bandwidth is nice, intelligent power management is cool... but folks should be spilling into the streets in thankful praise that the next generation miniature USB connector will fit either way. All told — just how many intricate miracle devices have been scrapped in their prime — because a tiny USB port was mangled? For millennia untold chimpanzees and people have been poking termite mounds with round sticks. I for one am glad to see round stick technology make its way into consumer electronics. Death to the trapezoid, bring back the rectangle! So... since we're on roll here... how many other tiny annoyances that lead to big fails are out there?"
The new connector will be smaller too.
Atari would be proud (Score:5, Interesting)
and Just after (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:another design cue from apple? (Score:4, Interesting)
Cue the anti-Lightning connector posts.
The proprietary nature of Lightning and its excessive control by Apple is bad, but as a functional connector it works pretty well. I can plug my phone in without being able to see anything and thusfar it has been plenty durable, too. (My Proclip car charger/holder uses a lightning/30pin cable in the base, so it gets pretty hard use without any issues).
I think Apple would have been smart to create a cheap licensing program for it to gain wider adoption, especially for devices that aren't phones or tablets, as well as a more open spec that would have allowed for more innovative use with iPhones for third party components. Now that a USB spec is coming that eliminates the mechanical advantage of Lightning as a plug, the proprietary nature of of Lightning will be more glaring.
Re:Apple All Over Again (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Atari would be proud (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, Atari had a serial bus that was quite nice in its day. Too bad they didn't promote it as a standard for other computer makers of the day to use. There are some significant parallels to USB, as well as many differences.
But what really sets it apart from USB is the lack of standardization, not technical differences. USB was part of a vision for all computers. Atari never considered pushing SIO for use with Apple or Commodore.
What about HDMI (Score:5, Interesting)
The WORST connectors are the trapezoidal HDMI connectors. Not only are they orientation specific, but they are often used on heavy cables that pull on the connector causing it to lose contact, and even bend the pins in the socket.
Add in the fact that the data rate is like a zillion bytes per second and there is an encryption handshake that must go just right at the start and you have a clusterfuck.
HDMI connectors seriously need an upgrade.
Re:Atari would be proud (Score:2, Interesting)
Meh. SIO could not be hot-plugged, did not auto-load drivers, could not be hubbed, etc. It was almost, but not entirely, completely unlike USB.
I'm sure the idea of "easy to use serial bus" was inspired by his work with SIO, but then one has to consider AppleBus, ABD, A.b and many other similar designs from many other similar companies.
What's wrong with good old TRS plugs? (Score:4, Interesting)
Tip-{ring,ring,...}-Sleeve. Easily handles the 3 or 4 connectors needs for just about any modern digital serial connector. Need power? why not modulate the signal on top of the power carrier? Easy to connect, proven reliable (can't count how many times I've broken a mini/micro USB or worse those umpteen pin pico/nano pin connectors that are only used for power or maybe a simple serial connection)
Re:Apple All Over Again (Score:3, Interesting)
And yet, during the hysteria few months ago about the iPhone charger that electrocuted a customer in China, Apple kept insisting people needed, oh they badly needed, to buy only Apple's branded cable. The shock risk was entirely in what the cable was plugged into, but they insisted otherwise, and it's doubtless that thousands of compliant Apple customers threw out their third-party charging systems (the evil ones that didn't have the Apple branding information on the packaging) and dashed to the Apple Store waving plastic.