Comment by jimmies | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jimmies | Hacker News Reader

There are a lot of annoying stuff about the computer interface nowadays. But in terms of connectors, there are a lot of good stuff we take for granted now. Like how intuitive and fool-proof the connectors are.

So a couple of days ago, I have just fried all three hard drives with the backup of my data, at the same time. They were installed in a new caddy I bought with a common molex receptor for power. There molex receptor has a giant sticker blocking it saying you will fry your drives if you connect to the molex receptor in reverse. I got the pinouts right, tested, it worked. Then, I had to bring the caddy to under my desk. I was scooting under the desk and couldn't see very well. I fumbled and put the cable on reverse, it didn't go in. However, the molex connector got just enough contact to fry the drives.

What I'm trying to say is if it was the USB-A connector or the sata power connector, the issue wouldn't have happened because the pins are recessed. It wouldn't have made contact even when I tried to plug in reverse. I just assumed the molex worked the same way and was wrong.

The situation is even better with usb-c now, it's not that you can't plug in it wrong, there is no wrong way to plug the cable. It doesn't matter what the voltage is, the chip will negotiate the power. USB succeeded for a reason, and I'm glad that it did.

>> The situation is even better with usb-c now

It isn't. It really isn't. I spent two weeks buying various inexpensive, possibly knock-off, and expensive name-brand cables from monoprice, amazon, and best buy to attempt to connect from a new dock that I bought for my macbook to various peripherals.

I suppose my argument is more with Thunderbolt3 and USB consortium(s)? for allowing thunderbolt3 to use the same physical interface as USB-C, but... while the physical plug is the same:

1. the cables can support various power draw limits

2. A thunderbolt3 cable is not the same as a USB-C cable. You can't buy a two meter USB-C to USB-C cable and run 40 gbit thunderbolt across it to connect a macbook (say) to the doc, and get dual displays, networking, and power. Even though it fits in both ports.

3. A USB-C to Displayport cable won't necessarily work with your stuff.

4. A USB-C cable connected to a monitor might not actually do anything.

5. The USB-C cable that came with my mac will charge stuff, but won't pass data over it. So when I plug it in to the dock, what should happen? Should the computer charge, at least?

And a litany of other things that make me angry just typing this out.

That I have cables with little lighting bolt icons that I'd never paid attention to, and small "3's" on them says, I think, that they are "Norman cables." There's no way I can explain that to my mom, who learned "if the plug fits, it should work."

You -kind of- even have this with RJ45 network cables. There's cat5, cat5e, and cat6. They all look the same, and yet depending on which one I use, I get 100 mbit, 1 gbit, or 10 gbit link speeds.

putting everything on the same connector seemed like such a great idea at the time, but now we just have a bunch of cables that you have no idea what they can/can't do

> it's not that you can't plug in it wrong, there is no wrong way to plug the cable

Red text warning: NEVER USE A CHEAP CABLE TO CHARGE YOUR COMPUTER NEVER USE A 3A USB C CABLE TO POWER A LAPTOP OR MONITOR

https://learn.adafruit.com/understanding-usb-type-c-cable-ty...

Compliant USB-C cables might not always work at full speed (or at all, on some devices that need more power to operate), but they will never be a safety hazard. The only possible safety hazard with USB-C charging is a noncompliant cable with an E-markers that explicitly claims to support 5A charging, while the wires are sized for lower current (which would be a conscious decision made by the manufacturer to build a serious fire hazard.)

(Of course, cables and connectors can be defective, and there's always the risk of this. But the USB-IF has spent a lot of time making sure compliant devices can never be configured in a dangerous way. It's up to the manufacturers to only build devices and cables that comply with the specifications. Unfortunately, this is less common than you would think. Amazon happily sells horribly non-compliant dongles and cables that easily have the potential to damage electronics or start fires.)

USB-A takes 3 attempts before successful insertion. It's not a good example of intuitive design.

still better than ps/2 where you can never quite be sure if you're plugging it in successfully or bending all the pins of the connector successfully

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