Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/03/these-reversible-micro-usb-cab.html
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because they’re also supposed to be rated for a certain number of uses (plugs/unplugs) i expect these are rated significantly lower then a normal USB cable.
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Definitely the USB-A side looks significantly weaker. The micro looks to be a bit better, although the flared-out edge of the standard design probably allows for some more vertical stability.
They eliminate frustration? Impressive! I wonder if they’ll develop some that eliminate wistful longing? Cables that eliminate rage would be really useful…
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I thought of developing a cable that eliminated apathy and ennui, but I just don’t give a shit.
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Well, hell, I can still remember when the PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports were not even color coated. That was fun.
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I would expect these things to be more than a little problematic. I already have one phone-and-cable combination that won’t work unless I prop something underneath the cable to get the angle just right.
On the other hand, I also have an old Blackberry Playbook tablet whose USB port I nearly wrecked. It’s a common problem as the unit was rather poorly designed and it’s very easy to end up forcing the cable in the wrong way, potentially bending the pin inside.
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USB-C seems less durable than lightning cables, though.
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Not in my experience at all. Since I’ve been using an iPhone for work I’ve gone through like 6 or 7 lighting cables, until I bought some reinforced anker and aukey cables they seemed to only last a month or two. It’ll be two years with the thing come may.
My personal phone has been usb c for around 4 years. I have never broken or close to worn out a usb c. Before that with micro USB I only ever broke a few. but I wore out cables often. With the ones that came with my devices lasting around a year before they got sketchy enough to worry me, worn insulation or loose connections to the port. The broken ones it was always a bent connector, the micro USB likes to crimp in the middle.
But any way usb c is totally reversible, and the idea is that all usb cables will be USB c by some point in the future. So the headline was asked and answered a long while ago.
ETA: I’ll put it this way. I have the same red, braided reinforced Anker cables in lighting and C. The USB c has a much stiffer, thicker cable. Better reenforcement behind the plugs, and a more robust plug than the lightnings. At around the same cost (or cheaper). The same holds true for the cables that came with the phones and generic cables I’ve encountered.
I’ve had a couple lightning plugs snap off, but most of my cables failed where the wire meets the plug. I’ve had micro USB connectors snap off the plug, but they mostly bent on me, or the insulation wore through. And the USB plug is much more robust than those and the wire and insulation is beefier across the board.
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See, my experience is the opposite of all of that.
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Given the regular posts here and on the internets in general about sales on reenforced lightning cables. Always couched with details about how breakable and expensive the damn things are.
And the nearly endless tech press think pieces about when Apple will finally go USB C and give up on it’s fragile expensive proprietary plug.
You might be the only one. Maybe pick up some better cables?
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Well, for one thing, these are not for syncing - only for charging. That’s a very important omission for some of us.
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Probably for the best. CDC statistics suggest that following through with that plan accounts for ~11,000 deaths a year in the US.
I am “three attempts guy”, if you know what I mean…
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Crazy thing is, PS/2 runs mouse and keyboard on different wires, so, no reason not to combine them.
Way back when Apple’s video connector was the same as a AUI Ethernet connector (different latching mechanism though). Nothing bad happened if you switched them.
No? I don’t think of my experience as universal for one. Also, I see reinforced USB-C cables advertised elsewhere, too. Maybe not here (I didn’t check), but I don’t see what that has to do with a cables’ putative fragility.
In my experience, my USB-C cables are more fragile than my lightning cables. Is that really hard to accept?
Oh, and USB-C isn’t a great choice for Thunderbolt, either, versus the mini DisplayPort, if you’re on a laptop and connect to things and drives. That wiggle factor is a serious concern if you bump the table with your devices on it.
Just stick a ferrite on it, that should do the trick.
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Not saying it doesn’t have its issues. Just that the particular problem Mark was pointing to is something the usb standard has already solved.
No its just the opposite of the problem everyone else seems to have.
I can find you a reinforced lamp cord if you want, the existence of reinforced cables doesn’t equate to fragility. Reinforced full sized USB cables are available, and noone would argue that they’re less durable then their tiny friends.
Apple’s lightning cables and most 3rd party alternatives have a known habit of failing just behind the plug on the lightning side. I’ve had other sorts of cables fray there, but they remain usable. Its common enough that many people assume its deliberate, given how expensive the apple branded cords are. And that 3rd party ones tend to go for more than identical non-apple cords from the same manufacturer.
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