Well, after 10+ years of using USB widgets of every shape, size, and color - I just discovered from reading the article that the USB symbol is always on the top side. So, I certainly got my value out of HN today. :-)
I read a poignant comment on YouTube (I know, I know) the other day:<p>"I have a theory, that USB cables have three sides: Wrong side A, wrong side B and right side. Geometry would tell us that the first side would be the same as the third one, but I know the truth."
Oh wow, this is spectacular. I can't tell you how many times I've done this:<p><pre><code> - USB plug doesn't fit. Must be wrong way. Switch!
- Still doesn't fit. REALLY doesn't fit.
Must have been the other way around. Switch again!
- Finagle it a bit more than the first try. OK, fits now.</code></pre>
The preamble that talks about how USB is increasingly important in our lives is hilarious: typical hyperbolic introduction to student projects that try and fail to justify the importance of the project.<p>It is especially funny because it falls back on the "increasingly important" trope, when it is not only false but subsumed by a far better argument: USB is ubiquitous.
Very cool but here's my initial concern. When the set of four contacts are flipped over on top of themselves their order will be reversed and that leads to a potential for a short. The center two pins being data aren't as big of a deal but the outside pins, namely the +5 and ground would be opposite each other and quite close. Since the surface they are mounted on slides, it could potentially also wiggle up and down. Careful engineering would be required to ensure these don't come into contact, which would make a nice little short to blow out one of your USB ports.<p>I would consider putting a sliding plate between the two contact plates to keep the two sides separated. It would be pushed back no matter which direction it was inserted exposing the correct set of contacts.
FTFY: A USB plug that goes both ways<p>A word gets the 'an' article based on pronunciation, not the mere fact that it starts with a vowel. Say it: "a you es bee"<p>See? It has a consonant sound so 'a' sounds better.
OK kids, quit the bellyaching. There is only one way to get a USB cable wrong, even if you get it wrong 90% of the time. Remember the PS2. It came with round DIN connectors. There was only one right way to plug it in, but an indefinite number of wrong ways to try it. And we had to do it uphill...in the snow.
I've always wondered why the USB port is the way it is. It seems such an unbelievably stupid design, but I assume there must be a reason for it. Does anyone have a link, or brief explanation?<p>Incidentally a search for "why is the usb port such a stupid design?" (without the quotes) brings up nothing remotely relevant on any of the major search engines. Strange.
I've always wondered, why aren't USB connectors designed to be able to be inserted either way? Does having 4 contacts vs 8 really save all that much money?
I never understood why plugs like that needed to go a certain way. On a technical standpoint, yes, I get that the leads need to be oriented in such a way, but why design it so people have to think about it? Apple's mag safe connector is a perfect example of how plugs should work - it does not require anyone to think about what the correct orientation is.<p>Same with magnetic stripe readers for credit cards and transit passes. At this point, that reading technology is so ridiculously cheap that there should be no reason why we can't put in four different sensors so that it doesn't matter what orientation you swipe a card with.
Reminds me of Microsoft's Instaload design for batteries:
"The two batteries can be inserted in any of the four possible orientations as shown above and the device works."<p>Source: <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/licensing/instaloadoverview.mspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/licensing...</a><p>HN Discussion <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1480059" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1480059</a>
Smart, but I wonder how robust it is. With a sliding mechanism that small that's going to be constantly barraged with fumbling fingers, will it be able to stand the test of time? Something tells me it'll go the way of floppy disks - accidentally mangled springs, which will make the user have to toss it and get a new one. The major difference being that USB cables don't come in packs of 10.
I feel like the problem is often the opposite one. I'm plugging a USB device into the back of my PC, and can't see the direction that the USB port is facing. Some of the motherboard shields sit out far enough that, even if you look back there, you can't really see whether it's pointing up or down.<p>Maybe it's always consistent, but I don't have an intuitive sense for that. I would definitely pay $1 or $2 extra for cables that can be plugged in from either direction.
The USB 2.0 spec says that connectors have to stand up to 1,500 plug/unplugs.<p>I know people who have worn out their connectors. It's not a common problem, but . . . surely we can do better.<p>Too bad we can't get power over optical connects. Practical amounts of it, I mean.
That's pretty clever actually! Is this a real product?<p>If so how does it compare for number of insertions versus 'regular' USB plugs?<p>Is this a large enough advantage to justify the additional costs?
Great design, although I doubt anyone will seriously benefit from it. Why not just plug it in where the USB symbol is on top? How does this solve anything?
This great new product will revolutionize the way we input usb cables into our laptops. I would compare its significance to being somewhere between curing polio and ending apartheid in South Africa.
Who still uses USB regularly enough to feel this is a problem? Memory sticks are irrelevant in todays Gb ethernet as standard world, printers are wireless or networked, scanners don't exist for all intents and purposes, mice and keyboards are bluetooth... the list goes on!