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USB Cable Mess

41 Responses (Add) | Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 11:00pm

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This video is a plea to all device manufacturers in the world out there who insist on creating proprietary USB cables. I have a huge bin full of USB cables that I have NO idea what they go to.

If you are still creating proprietary cables, and devices that won’t connect using a standard USB cord… then you need to give up and get out of the game. Cut, print, period… end of discussion.

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41 Comments

Windows Vista Torrent

December 19th, 2007
at 7:14am

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December 20th, 2007
at 5:32am

of them, as I’m unlikely to use more than a couple devices at a time. So you see, standards are a good thing for the consumer. Even if the companies make a little less money, they’ll make up for it in consumer happiness. Thanks for the inspiration,Chris!

alt-tab

December 19th, 2007
at 5:10pm

Porqué una misma empresa (como Motorola) hace celulares con conexiones propietarias (V3) y otros totalmente compatibles (mini-usb, como el C650), en que difieren? en la gama? Alguien sabe la respuesta? yo no. Por lo pronto un día me va a pasar lo deeste tipo

tsilb

December 18th, 2007
at 11:26pm

That does kinda eliminate the whole “Universal” idea.

Francis E Hertel

December 19th, 2007
at 6:32am

This is really a variation on the ‘how do I connect devices via a serial cable’ dilemma many if us older PC users/builders had to deal with. I spent too much time wiring my own cables. To ease identifying which cable goes with which device, buy a box of ‘Marking Tags’; a square paper label attached to a string loop. Unbox the new toy, write the tay name on the tag, attach the label via the loop to the cable and the problem is solved. ‘Avery’ is the brand I use; about 2 cents per tag.

schagg311

December 19th, 2007
at 9:12am

don’t sugar coat it Chris. tell us how you really feel. ;)

btw, /agree

ProBo

December 19th, 2007
at 1:13pm

I agree, I don’t have as many cables as you do, but I have quite a few, and when I need to take devices with me on a trip, its always a pain trying to figure out which cables I need to bring.

bern

December 19th, 2007
at 6:30pm

When I got my second proprietary cable I started marking them with a Sharpie permanent marker. Black for the white cables, and silver for the black ones. The “A” end always has enough real estate for a note.

Sean

December 20th, 2007
at 2:44pm

The problem is not labelling and marking the darn things. There is a bare minimum of what is really needed.

USB 2.0 compliant cable, one ferrite bead to kill shield current, Standard size with A-A and A-B for standard devices, and A-mini-USB for cameras and smaller peripherals are absolutely all the iterations that are necessary for USB connection. Anything beyond that is environmentally irresponsible and a pure waste of my storage place.

That is the point that Chris is making.

Jim Carroll

December 20th, 2007
at 11:41pm

Damn.

I thought I was the only person bothered by this…

William1639

December 21st, 2007
at 1:56pm

I agree it is stupid. So what I do if it is not a normal connection then I take back the product and put a comment on the companys website. So they should all be THE SAME that is the truth

Trevor

December 21st, 2007
at 9:08pm

Lol Finnly Someone Ses IT I Hate That The PSP does not come with the usb connecter

Kaiser

December 22nd, 2007
at 4:42pm

I can totally relate to your frustration. I can’t count how many times I have taken a USB cable with me on a trip just to find out it was the wrong one for whatever device I had. I’ve had my fair share of voiced opinions when it comes time to finding that certain proprietary cable. I shure hope the device manufacturers get your message and actually put some thought into this well abandoned topic.

Thanks Chris! I really appreciate you bringing this sore subject back into my life.