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Furry engineer explains the nightmare that is the underlying complexity of USB-C

11 points| qdot76367 | 10 months ago |pcgamer.com

3 comments

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EvanAnderson|10 months ago

The part that really got me from this talk was the added expense and complexity associated with the orientation-independent connector. It's neat that it'll plug-in either way, but at a cost that seems unjustified. USB-A connectors are a pain to plug in, for sure, so there was arguably room for improvement. An asymmetric connector shell would have done the job fine at a much lower cost.

Also, all the power delivery negotiation details sound excruciating. It frustrates me how we make something elegant and simple then gunk it up w/ edge cases.

Our_Benefactors|10 months ago

> An asymmetric connector shell would have done the job fine at a much lower cost

It would have done a worse job by definition. Weird take. The lightning connector was a massive competitive advantage to Apple for years and the other side of the market needed an answer.