Ajay Bhatt is a genius. Just in the years he has spent working at Intel has accumulated one hundred and thirty-two patents. And most are related to connectivity. Of Indian nationality, we owe him the architecture of the Universal Serial Bus. Yes, USB is his fault, for better or worse. He USB It is surely the most popular connection port in history.
But USB is just an acronym under which dozens of models and families are hidden. However, The original and the one that everyone thinks of when talking about ‘USB’, is type A. That rectangular one that always takes two—sometimes even three—attempts to plug in. It seems like he’s trolling us. That is something that Apple has never liked, and that is why in all its ports, Lightning, MagSafe and others, it has always sought symmetry. A symmetry that years later would arrive with USB-C.
Ajay Bhatt, as the creator of the first USB, explained in an interview with PCGamer the reasons that led him and his team not to bet on reversibility. That is, to force that it could only be connected in a specific positionand not like Lightning or USB-C, which work regardless of their orientation. Dozens of ports scratched because of him, yes, but with a reason.
And time proved Apple right again.
Like the vast majority of problems in the world of technology, it’s all about money. Bhatt acknowledges that It would have been more comfortable and better for everyone a rounded port like USB-C, which could be plugged in regardless of its position. Of course, that would have required twice as many cables, a dangerous thickness that would imply a shorter useful life, more repairs, more changes… And it would have meant an extra cost in its development, subsequent manufacturing and packaging that at that time Intel did not see as viable. . The same Intel that is reeling today.
This was not something that was ever liked at Apple. Those from Cupertino do not do things to be as cheap as possible. It is not a cheap company. A connector with which you do not have to guess its correct position is something that greatly improves the user experience. What does that make it cost five euros more? Well, at Apple they think it’s worth it. To the point of putting cables on sale for 130 euros.
Time puts everyone in their place, as they say. And that’s fine, because usability and ergonomics should be the main pulley that always mobilizes any technological creator. At least that was what Steve Jobs aspired to.
In this case, the entire industry has ended up turning towards what Apple has been doing and defending for years. It already did it with its 30-pin connector from the first iPhone, continued with the Lightning of the last 11 years and now continues with a USB-C port to which he contributed a lot in its development. Now all you need is for the Magic Mouse to be able to charge without turning it over, and without having to hack it.
An older version of this article was originally published on 10/11/2023.
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