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by gunalx 24 days ago
I hate how USBC is actually electrically directional. And that some shitty devices sont fully implement things properly so it still is only one way to insert it, but both work physically.
1 comments

If the devices at each end of the cable are built to spec, and the cable itself is also built to spec, and nothing is damaged, then: USB-C is always ambidextrous.

The spec works fine. It really does. It is complete and functional in its ambidextrous nature.

The usual problems happen when people and/or companies don't spend the time to understand it, and/or find merit in shaving a few tenths of a cent on the BOM. In these instances, we get out-of-spec things that quite predictably work in out-of-spec ways.

Idiot proofing is part of what makes a good spec good.
The spec is good. Spec-compliant devices tolerate idiot users extremely well.

The implementers of the spec are sometimes errant nimrods, though. Errant nimrods can bring a bad time to any party they decide to be involved in. This can be particularly problematic when they're weaponized by having their own manufacturing divisions.

(And that's not new: Errant nimrods have been in charge of manufacturing fucked up devices for as long as we've had devices for them to fuck up. Probably centuries, by now; maybe longer.)

Implementers and end users are both customers of the spec.
I see a lot of complaining and very little proposed alternatives. What do you propose USB-C standard should have done?
Sure.

But only one of these groups is responsible for supplying actual-fucking-hardware to the group that simply uses it.

And sometimes, that group consists of errant fucking nimrods.