USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible - eviltoast
  • Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

          • Rhaedas@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            USB->PS/2 adapters

            That caused a flashback, as I haven’t seen those in years (but I know I have a few still somewhere lol). It also made me think…I can not recall ever having to do the “1-2-3” tries when hooking a USB mouse or keyboard into those before I plugged it all into the back of the PC. Which makes me lean towards blaming the socket installation and lack of reference for a lot of the woes, not the cord or flashdrive (which you can see).

    • orclev@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year 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.

    • florge@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

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