this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible (2019) (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago

Cost

Saved you a click

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I get not making it reversible. I also get making it roughly rectangular.

What I don't get is making it look symmetric from the outside. It could've been made trapezoidal instead, so tactile feedback is enough to know the right position.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It could have still been rectangular. All they really needed to add was a key to the housing of the connector. (Logic being that an odd shaped metal connector would be just a hair more expensive to manufacture than just adding a key position to an injection mold.)

Trapezoid or key, it would have still been a pain when trying to insert the connector blind. Having fingered thousands of different connectors (lulz) over the years, it is still difficult to feel the orientation of a recessed female plug, regardless of its shape.