As an anarchist I'm so glad we also made the word universal useless by making all kinds of different power and data transmit standards that ports and cables may or may not support. As a Satanist I also love that there is no system for labeling anything to know what cable will support what protocol.
41Yeah. This is the problem with trying to enforce standards on industries that historically move at glacier speed, with standards used by tech moving at breakneck speeds.
The only happy part of USB-C in this context is that, at least right now, the USB-C connector doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, so if things get updated to USB C, we should be okay for a while.
Personally, I carry a whole assortment of USB cables with me everywhere. C-to-C, A-to-C, even A-to-lightning, and A-to-microB. I don't use an iPhone, nevermind one that needs a lightning cable. And I have moved away from most accessories that require micro.
I also have a power brick in my pack with the cables, it's a GaN power brick from Anker, with over 100W of output, two USB-C outputs, and one USB-A. At least one of the type C ports supports enough power output to charge my laptop, the other USB C port for my phone, and the USB A port for anything else that might need it. I don't recall the exact power capacity of it, but if memory serves, it will take 100-240V, 50-60hz AC input, so at most, I just need to get one of those cheap converters for the receptacle type used wherever I may find myself.
I work in tech, so being without power is a huge problem. My work laptop also takes USB C for charging, so I don't need to have two power bricks with me. I usually have both, but I don't need to have both.
As long as there's power available and is sufficiently clean and stable, I'm good. I have a few accessories that are not USB C compliant, some have USB C ports but won't trigger a proper USB C charger to deliver any power, which is why I have USB A to C cables, and there's two devices I have that uses a proprietary cable (a Bluetooth headset and my smart watch), which I've obtained spares for which I keep one charging cable at home and one in my kit. My kit also includes a USB A/C power bank. It's not powerful enough to charge my laptop, but it's fine for everything else.
USB C has simplified the cables I carry. I still have a few odds and ends for edge cases, but for the most part, I'm okay with it.
My only big issue with USB C at this point is that it's not just for power+usb data anymore. It's thunderbolt, and display port, and... Ugh. So many things using the same connector that I don't know what will work anymore when I get to a new device, because though it looks like USB C, it might be USB C QC, or PD, or thunderbolt, or display port, or....... FML.
17I have a piece of furniture with a snap in power station and it probably has USB 1.0 ports on it. I don't care how cool the tech is, if you're trying to incorporate it into a long lasting product like furniture, it really needs to be a standard module that is easy to upgrade. Mine snaps out but I have no idea if an updated version exists anywhere because there's no standardization and this furniture company doesn't show anything on their website.
13USB A to C is pretty standard
10I thought usb-a to usb-c or whatever you have is standart everywhere what do they mean by useless?
9I never used any public ports. Reality is if i have a cable with me, I'm just as likely to have a power bank, and it charges my phone faster. It also gives me more freedom of movement as I don't have to be wired to a wall.
8I'm not quite sure what the complaint here is? USB is a standard, and the problem was that we didn't have the standard installed. The fact you've got a slightly different version of the standard is a simple problem to solve by owning a cheap cable.
In fact it's literally the same as having USB-C on both ends, since it's still only the one cable. A to C, or C to C, it makes no difference
3I have a piece of furniture with a snap in power station and it probably has USB 1.0 ports on it. I don't care how cool the tech is, if you're trying to incorporate it into a long lasting product like furniture, it really needs to be a standard module that is easy to upgrade. Mine snaps out but I have no idea if an updated version exists anywhere because there's no standardization and this furniture company doesn't show anything on their website.
2I have a piece of furniture with a snap in power station and it probably has USB 1.0 ports on it. I don't care how cool the tech is, if you're trying to incorporate it into a long lasting product like furniture, it really needs to be a standard module that is easy to upgrade. Mine snaps out but I have no idea if an updated version exists anywhere because there's no standardization and this furniture company doesn't show anything on their website.
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