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Comment by gaius | Hacker News Reader

The consequence of this incompatibility is damage to the host device; that's what's new. Never an issue with RS232!

As far as I'm aware it is only out-of-spec cables that can cause damage. If everything is in spec then the worst case is just reduced performance or the connection not working. I'd add that – IMO – if an out of spec cable causes damage, then the cable manufacturer should be held responsible.

I'm sure that an out of spec USB 2 cable can cause damage as well.

Right -- it's cables that do not comply with the USB-C spec that can cause damage. It's not as if plugging a Thunderbolt 3 device into a laptop that doesn't support Thunderbolt will damage the laptop. It just won't work.

and trying to argue that out-of-spec cables causing damage to your computer is a deficiency in the spec makes about as much sense as saying the etherkiller demonstrates a problem with the RJ45 spec.

(http://etherkiller.org/)

As far as I'm aware it is only out-of-spec cables that can cause damage

But see http://www.computerworld.com/article/3133627/technology-law-...

The out of spec cable problem is slowly beginning to resolve itself. Major online retailers, starting with Amazon, seem to be taking action. Between that and possible product liability issues for bad cables (though that's more hope than anything likely for various reasons), we can expect cable manufacturers to get with the program by the time USB-C is further mainstream. Right now, aside from some brand-new Android devices, USB-C is still trickling in on laptops and other devices.

The really crazy thing is that there's very little reason to build crappy cables. Per unit, your savings from cutting major corners are as close to zero as you can get. Judging by Benson Leung's Surjtech[0] testing woes, even cutting out any QA testing to save money wouldn't be sufficient to explain all of the cable problems. QA testing certainly can't explain how you can completely forget to wire in the SuperSpeed wires despite labeling it as such. That's not the sort of thing to happen as a one-off. Losing your sales channels, facing potential class action lawsuits, and seeing your brand dragged through the mud all add up to far more significant costs.

The biggest problem, IMO, will be when USB-C becomes prevalent enough that we see the $1 cables in checkout lines and gas stations. If there's anywhere we're going to see bad cables being hocked, it's there. Hopefully by that point, manufacturers will have gotten burned enough that good QA will become the norm.

0. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/02/google-engineer-finds...

Hmm, don't get me started on standards conformant +12V/-12V RS232 and common 0/5V TTL RS232.

RS232 is a protocol, not a port. Rj45 is a port that rs232 uses and if you confuse that with ethernet, you will definitely damage something.

But not by using the "wrong" cable. The cables for RS232 and ethernet alike are passive.

PowerOverEthernet might be a surprise for a rs232 device.

Like what happened to R2D2 on Cloud City.

Correct. I was referring to POE scenarios.

Unless the pins were wired wrong.

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