[peglasaurus]

Both of those came after USB 1, yes? So they would have that history behind them. A precursor can't be criticised for laying the foundation for better descendants.

Later usb dont have that defense. Those micro usb abominations have no excuse. They are just waiting to break and become landfill.

[mikestew]

Let me tell you as someone that was there, man, when USB came out. Everything else that plugged into my computer had a non-symmetrical shape. Serial ports, VGA, DVI, SCSI, even PS/2 which had a flat spot that told which way was up.

Now imagine someone showed me a new connector that looks like it could go either way, but only one way would work. They had a clean slate, and that's what they came up with? From my perspective at the time, that was the dumbest fucking thing I'd seen in a long while.

[peglasaurus]

You forgot to mention IEEE 488 which was both a great thing and the cause of many failed experiments. But I digress. Yeah I saw all those and a lot of others you didn't mention. Remember DIN connectors? They were nicely round, dimpled and standard. Didn't stop students plugging them in upside down. Students also plugged vga into 25 pin serial! Or 9pin serial for that matter. I've seen students try sd cards into usb then complain it didn't work.

You didn't address microusb or even its cousin the lightning cable. Talk to anyone who fixes phones and, after the screen or battery, those damned connectors are broken by design. Flimsy. They are D shaped but only barely. I can easily plug microusb in either way. Oops. Lightning breaks because you unplugged it too many times. Its not D shaped and works both ways. Still made-for-landfill.

Yeah, Usb was a game changer went it came out. Intel did that design for size, cost and just plain "ability to get it out there". Firewire didn't really pan out. Too expensive.

So many attempts at the perfect cable. They all work in their own way. USB A did ok in general.

[mumblemumble]

> Everything else that plugged into my computer had a non-symmetrical shape. Serial ports, VGA, DVI, SCSI, even PS/2

Heck, even USB B-type connectors.

[zro]

I've only ever seen female B connectors on peripherals. Do they make motherboards that have them?

[garaetjjte]

No, B port should be only on peripheral.

[ZiiS]

Raspberry Pi?

[mumblemumble]

The type B port is for connecting the Pi as a peripheral. It has separate type A ports for connecting peripherals to it.

[amluto]

That’s because you’re forgetting older technologies. DB9, DB25, and VGA were all trapezoidal.

[vinay427]

At least they didn't learn lessons from PS/2, which is circular and mostly rotationally ambiguous, or at least seemed so to the younger version of me. That was the bane of computing during my childhood.

[jaywalk]

Never had trouble with PS/2. The connectors were flat on top, so it was pretty easy to "aim" them.

[peglasaurus]

HDMI learnt nothing from the old db connectors like VGA. Try it with HDMI when the cable has to go in but you can't see the port. Get gud as they say.