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USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Making USB reversible to begin with would have necessitated twice as many wires and twice as many circuits, and would have doubled the cost. Bhatt says his team was aware at the time of the frustration that a rectangular design could have, versus a round connector. But in an effort to keep it as cheap as possible, the decision was made to go with a design that, in theory, would give users a 50/50 chance of plugging it in correctly (you can up the odds by looking at the inside first, or identifying the logo).

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I was there when we had lots of "round" connectors like Din connectors but also lots of proprietary ones.

That was way worse, trying for the eleventh time to put it in correctly without looking as it's under/on the backside in a jungle of other cables, and not damaging any of the fragile 7 pins... gargl.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

The trick with DIN connectors was to try to insert them gently while rotating them. Once you got the notch lined up they would very clearly drop into the socket at which point you could apply more pressure to fully seat them. It was only a problem if you were jamming them in full force while rotating because you could exert enough pressure to force it into the socket even with the key notch misaligned crushing the pins. I never once had a problem inserting a DIN connector, something I absolutely can't say about USB-A.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Wow I'd forgotten about the old keyboard and mouse ports, they were such a faff to plug in without looking.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

would give users a 50/50 chance of plugging it in correctly

Sometimes it's more 33% or even 10%.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I have my doubts. I think that a jack-like (circular) connector wouldn't require twice as many wires and circuits. Actually absolutely the same amount. The connector itself would require more metal to make.

And the chance of correctly plugging that in would be like 99/100 (1/100 for breaking it).