[Edvik]

There's nothing particularly wrong with the connector. The article picks a specifically ugly/cheap looking cable, though. Others look better, eg:

http://i.imgur.com/7zEL7HJ.jpg

Also it's not really new - as others have pointed out people with USB drives have been using these for a while.

[m_ram]

Here's an even shinier one: http://i.imgur.com/JfODxoo.jpg

I'll take the blue one if it's cheaper. I don't think I've even thought about pretty cables until this article.