this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hindsight is 20/20. You're raising every issue with the original USB plug, then proceed to highlight how they addressed these issues going forward.

You're describing inexperience and calling it incompetence.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

AFAIK the real predecessor to USB was Serial cables and those were an absolute shit show. USB set out to create a more usable interface with a lower profile and cheaper cost. In many ways the minor flaws in USB becoming common gripes is USB becoming a victim of its own success. I don't think they originally set out to become a power charging standard so the frequency at which devices were plugged in increased over time .

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

At least serial cables weren't symmetric, although just barely. AT and PS/2 cables (or any DIN) were much more of a pain for me to plug in blind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't even know that I would call it inexperience. I just think a major part of the first pass was selling the idea of USB. You can design a perfect cable, plug, and protocol, it doesn't mean anyone will use it. Most investors don't know much about the technical details of a product. They do, however, understand the price. If you're trying to make a difference in the world, you don't always get to do it with style and quality.