Yes wrote:
Larc wrote:

-- snipped --
I suspect many devices with USB ports will be moving to C. My phone
has that type. I like it because there's no bottom/top difference and
I can plug the cable in without having to put on reading glasses to
check for precise positioning.

Larc

definitely agree. Now I'll have to start researching OTG capabilities
out there; just heard about that a day or two ago. I don't think my
phone (LG Aristo) has that capability, but a call to LG should clear
that question up for me. I'm several years behind the times here.
Started having fun watching some YouTube videos showing how some people
are using OTG with their phones. Looks interesting. But I remain
biased to desktops. There's just something about having a full-fledged
keyboard, monitor, mouse and hardware flexibility that having a desktop
offers. Not to mention the satisfaction in putting it together.

John

The connectors have sizes. You can have a desktop computer
with regular sized connectors. You can have other devices with
microUSB.

But in addition to that, the USB scheme started with the
notion of gender for the cable.

"What is the Difference between USB Type A and USB Type B Plug/Connector"

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/all...256DB8006208DE

Peripherals used a different connector shape than the host did.
This ensured that extension cables were fitted the right way.

This scheme also had one other purpose. USB did not support
host to host, so peer devices (two Type A) were never intended
to connect to one another. That was their thought back when
USB was invented.

How did that change ?

USB OTG was invented. It allowed host devices to have a
"dual personality". One OTG device could decide to work
as a peripheral, the other could be the host.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go

A second violation of the original intent, was the
USB laplink cable. It was Type A on both ends. The
chip located in the center of the chip, originally
didn't have a USB class defined for it. That was
remedied later by USB.org . The chip is basically
a two-direction FIFO mailbox scheme. A host on one end,
shoves a packet into a FIFO. The other host computer,
thinks when it sees a packet sitting in the FIFO,
that it's "reading a peripheral". The feelings of
neither computer is hurt by this subterfuge. And
software stacks were written for file transfer
and networking, across that link.

The end result of some of these changes, is
the home user plays the role of "engineer",
reading all the specs, and figuring out exactly
how many ways there are to plug stuff together :-(

USB type C has changed the philosophy again, and
there are even cables with a chip embedded in the
cable, to make the cable intelligent. If you're wondering
why the cable has a "finger hold", the chip is hiding
in there. The ugly cable design wasn't a fashion statement.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/usb-type...nect-them-all/

"With Type-C, both ends of a USB cable are the same,
allowing for reversible plug orientation. You also
don't need to worry about plugging it in upside down
as it will function both ways."

To do that, the smaller connector invented, has more contacts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C

"Cables

USB-C 3.1 cables are considered full-featured USB-C
cables. They are electronically marked cables that
contain a chip with an ID function based on the
configuration channel and vendor-defined messages (VDM)
from the USB Power Delivery 2.0 specification."

See how easy ? :-/

"why is smoke coming out of this cable?"
"it's intelligent smoke"

Paul