fysme
WORM MOTHERevery single time someone says "USB-C is the worst connector ever" this is the first thing I immediately think of
sure, USB-C is not perfect, but every time someone claims that it is "The worst" I wonder if it's just nostalgia or if they genuinely were lucky enough to never have had to transfer data or charge a phone in the early 00s
I just throw one charger into my backpack and power my laptop, my phone, my partner's laptop and their nintendo switch
isn't that fuckin Neat
most people do not actually hate USB-C. foss georg who has 425 USB-C hate alt accounts is an outlier and should not be counted
I honestly feel like pretty much every problem people have with USB-C could easily be solved just by printing a small bit of text on the cable itself, yknow, like we already do with ethernet cables and audio cables and a ton of other things, but I feel like this is less of a problem with the connector itself and more just the tech corporations obsession with "sleek and simple"
#[deprecated] Qyriad@AgathaSorceress the bigger problem is the ports tbh. you often don't know exactly how a given USB-C port will behave and what it'll support until you try it. those needs labels more than the cables imo
Jubei@AgathaSorceress what problems do people have with usb-C?
Ali@jubei @AgathaSorceress There no guarantee that a given USB-C cable will work in a given context, because the standard... isn't exactly standard, and as of 2023, there's still no way to identify what a given cable is capable of.
This is a recent article on (some of) the issues with USB-C.
Primo@AgathaSorceress not hating on it, but it's possible to not reap mamy benefits of it, by still having most things have different plugs o.o
~teasel 
@AgathaSorceress The reason I usually hear for the USB-C hate is that it's a (comparatively) physically-fragile socket. Like, for the amount of stress you can expect the port to handle, the mount-points are under-engineered from most suppliers. (At least they were early on; it does seem like they've gotten better lately.)
Emil J@cha0sys @AgathaSorceress my perception is that it is much more designed for strength than anything of comparable size. In practice, you will get bad versions too, but that's one thing definitely not among my multiple gripes with this dubious standard
genstar.service@AgathaSorceress
foss georg?
foss georg?
Xerz 💗@Genstar @AgathaSorceress just a random way to say fossbro or techbro, really
KateYagi@AgathaSorceress Isn't USB-C foss tho? There's no way someone could have patent over a /universal/ serial bus.
Officially Tara 🕷️ 
🌹@AgathaSorceress usb c sure feels like the gosh darn holy grail connector to me. a single connector that works in everything, that supports everything, that can be inserted any way, that has a public spec.... infinity preferable to the proprietary hell we used to have.
and when the device and charger support PD it charges so fast! 🤩
i feel like most of the complaints I've seen about usb c are really about crappy low end stuff not implementing all the features... but that's the beauty of it - instead of needing a different connector for those devices that only want basic 5V power and nothing else *it just works*.
@tarajdactyl @AgathaSorceress "when the device and charger [and cable] support PD" ;)
@grissallia @AgathaSorceress lol wow i haven't come across a cable that doesn't... that is not a spec compliant cable lol
witch_t *navi@AgathaSorceress
tho, even if all my devices were usb-c (which rn, the phone and steam deck are, but not the laptop), i would still carry at least two chargers
what if i need to charge my phone and laptop at the same time??
tho, even if all my devices were usb-c (which rn, the phone and steam deck are, but not the laptop), i would still carry at least two chargers
what if i need to charge my phone and laptop at the same time??
@navi I usually just carry one charger with multiple USB-C ports and 2-3 C to C cables
Piko Starsider 
@navi @AgathaSorceress I carry one USB C charger and a couple of USB C cables so I can daisy chain with the PC or something.
elena (⧞)
Kelvin n0mql EN35ldThat super thin micro USB thing that should only go in one way, but it would go in flipped the wrong way, and break the paper-thin thing-of-contacts in the jack. Yeah, that shit was fun.
Gourd@AgathaSorceress USB C has the Bluetooth Problem where it will work 80% of the time, work suboptimally 10% of the time, and fail mysteriously with no explanation possible besides trying every combination of identical looking cables, ports, and maybe chargers and hoping for me.
nev@AgathaSorceress I currently only have one thingy that charges via USB-C (an LED light) so being able to just plug it in without having to figure out which way is up still feels like a special luxury
GUILTY! Confiscation! Death Penalty!@AgathaSorceress USB-C is the holy grail because now i don't have to dig around my cables box for a microusb cable that will break the port in like 250 inserts
Charlotte 
/Cinny 
@AgathaSorceress probably nostalgia, or buying cheap cables that don’t work for every purpose
echarlie@AgathaSorceress I complain about USB-C because I have more monitors that support it than actual devices. But I am an outlier and carry around a USB to RS232 adapter when I have a laptop.
LisPi@AgathaSorceress No one could afford a phone anyway.
Mostly that.
Lord Hayati@AgathaSorceress the amount of cable standards before micro/mini USB... dear god.
didn't the US government step in and say "STOP THIS SHIT"? or am I mistaken?
princess pancake 
@AgathaSorceress The Nokia power jack was a nightmare
Juho MäntysaloOn the other hand, most people had a Nokia jack (some people still do, just in case).
j4n3z@iju @natty @AgathaSorceress you wanna charge? Yeah, I got Nokia jack. Oh, no, sorry. Not this type of Nokia jack.
@j4n3z @natty @AgathaSorceress
There were only two Nokia jacks: the old used to circa 2005, and the one used after. At the time Nokias had about 80% of the market, so far more common than people having 30-pin connectors or lightning cables.
DeepBlue V7.X@AgathaSorceress USB-C has the problem that it supports too many use-cases. It supports super dumb devices, that can be produced pretty cheaply and it supports devices, that needs smarts on both sides. That is very useful, but does create some confusion, since it is not obvious, what each device supports. However it results in a solution where it is much more likely that at least the cable fits and whether it will work for some advanced use-cases, that might depend on the specific devices and cables used. So in theory it is a significant upgrade at least.
Having every device support everything would be amazing, but also it would make everything more expensive and in general we don't need it. (But just imagine if your flash drive could reverse charge your desktop computer with 240W!) What I would like though would be better labeling for cables. Your OS should be able to tell you, what cable you just connected (instead of having to use USB debugging devices). Color labeling or text labels, while useful, imo look ugly. I don't want the fastest cable to be green in a purple themed build!
Anyway, sorry for the rant/rambling, but I think we can solve most of this confusion with good software and possibly some labelled cables for the people who want it. In general I really enjoy hacking on USB-C devices!
Having every device support everything would be amazing, but also it would make everything more expensive and in general we don't need it. (But just imagine if your flash drive could reverse charge your desktop computer with 240W!) What I would like though would be better labeling for cables. Your OS should be able to tell you, what cable you just connected (instead of having to use USB debugging devices). Color labeling or text labels, while useful, imo look ugly. I don't want the fastest cable to be green in a purple themed build!
Anyway, sorry for the rant/rambling, but I think we can solve most of this confusion with good software and possibly some labelled cables for the people who want it. In general I really enjoy hacking on USB-C devices!
Willow@AgathaSorceress There is lot of people that say that? o_O
the tower fairy@AgathaSorceress Pop Port!!!
Dawn Tåke 🌙 
Jeremy Mallin@AgathaSorceress I'm going to tell kids that was Cerberus from Greek mythology.
now at @@AgathaSorceress it's funny how no one complained about the thunderbolt connector but everyone hates usb-c
(they're the same, down to the pinout)
(they're the same, down to the pinout)
emberquill 
@AgathaSorceress i remember when the DS, DS Lite, and DSi all used different cables and vendors started making 3-in-1 split chargers for them, haha.
Now my phone, laptop, Switch, Steam Deck, and a whole slew of wireless peripherals all charge off the same cable. It's so much better.
Tattie (old account)@AgathaSorceress people forgot about micro USB real fast, huh?
Jiří Fiala Total Landscaping@AgathaSorceress but you had a chance to know what which cable does. You can't divine that from looking at a USB-C cable. Is it USB-C? Is it Thunderbolt? Does it carry power? How much? Data? Both? At what speed?
@stooovie @AgathaSorceress You can get most/all of that info from the wire (E-Marker chip) but require specific tooling for it, which is bullshit I think.
The cables are electronically marked and that data can be read-out from a given pin.
A small database would then be needed in the reader to reference expected VDMs if I understand it correctly.
Such marking is required by USB-PD https://usb.org/sites/default/files/D2T2-1%20-%20USB%20Power%20Delivery.pdf
@lispi314 @AgathaSorceress I meant a cursory look :)
@stooovie @AgathaSorceress Yeah, it annoys me a lot how they made that impossible.
If they can't be bothered to standardize some sort of color marking or code you can look-up, they should at least be bundling testers (https://www.chargerlab.com/e-marker-chip-detection-the-new-update-of-power-z-km003c/) with the cables (at no extra cost, too, certainly not an additional >100$ like that thing goes for on Amazon).
E-Marker Test for High-End Thunderbolt 4 and Magsafe 3 Cables | The New Update of POWER-Z KM003C
In March 2022, after the Apple spring event, they launched an unusual cable with E-marker chip - Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable, with a starting price of $129. Compared with the old one, the POWER-Z KM003C tester can accurately detect the E-marker chip info of a lightning cable. This new feature has
Karl Baron@stooovie @AgathaSorceress 99% of users are fine with the standard 60W/USB2.0 cables that come with even crappy cheap Chinese USB gadgets like fans
The one high-powered laptop charging cable or thunderbolt dock cable you have will live in your laptop bag or on your desk anyway
Pro users who need lots of thunderbolt cables will want to label all their stuff anyway
The problem is way overblown
@kalleboo @AgathaSorceress if only I knew this when I wasted time and money getting the proper cable for my display! LG doesn't bother stating that you need a 10Gbps cable, and unless you are a super nerd that somehow knows what resolution requires what bandwidth, you're simply left in the dark with seemingly identical cables. Don't be complacent, the situation is a mess.