Thread by @skagarroum

1/ The EU proposal to make USB-C mandatory on all devices is making the rounds, so time for a quick overview 🧵 on the origin of the standard, the issues with it and what is coming next.

Let’s start: Who is behind it, what do they want and how do they make money?

2/ The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) was founded in 95 as an NGO by a group of hardware companies working on a new connector together. The idea was to create one standard to unify and replace the variety of ports connecting all the PC peripherals: Mouse, Keyboards, Printers…

3/ The founding members were Compaq, Digital, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC and Nortel. Intel took the development lead back then.
Nowadays USB-IF has more than 1000 members, with the major ones being HP, NEC, Microsoft, Apple Inc., Intel, and Agere Systems.

4/ 95 seems to have been an interesting year for cooperation, treaties and decisions btw: The WTO was established, the Schengen Agreement (easing travel in Europe) went into effect, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was extended indefinitely and OJ Simpson was found not guilty.

5/ To set the scene a bit further, a quick playlist of the best songs of the year, with Seal’s Kiss of a Rose winning the Emmy for Song of the Year, and Skee-Lo’s I wish winning my favourite song of the year

6/ Back to the topic: in 1996 the USB-IF released their first standard, the first Universal Serial Bus (USB) - with the two connector type’s A & B. Over time more connector types, such as the well loved microUSB or the little used Micro AB were added, leaving us at the current 11

7/ Short side node about how USB-IF makes money: For a low 5k yearly membership fee your organisation can become a member too, which you need to show USB compliance and show off that sweet OG USB logo.

8/ They also sell licenses and organise conferences and workshops. Yearly revenue is around 5 Mil. Dive into the financials here: causeiq.com/organizations/…

9/ To understand the chaos that we are in now, you need to understand that there are different concepts within the standard:

🔌 Hardware: the cables and the connectors (the cable endings, from Type A to MicroUSB).

⚡ Protocols: for connection, transfer and and power supply.

10/ Normally when we are talking about USB-C we mean the connector, the cable ending, that was finalized in 2014 by USB-IF, and is now replacing all other connectors - which are now depreciated btw - by virtue of them not supporting the newer protocols anymore.

11/ So let’s quickly look at the protocols: they define the data rate, which 2700x since the 1.5 Mbit/s of USB 1.0 (1995) to 40 Gbit/s in USB4 (2019). Sounds like an Apple presentation, but shows the evolution of use cases.

12/ Similarly the maximum power 40x from 2,5W to 100W. With the data rate improvements, this enabled USB to become the universal standard for all kinds of peripheral use cases: from low energy and bandwidth peripherals to streaming 4k to external displays (replacing HDMI)

14/ There are people on the internet whose hobby it is to test and rate different USB cables, like @Laughing_Man : theverge.com/2015/11/5/9674…, and @AndroidAuth has a great yearly updated article on why USB-C is still a mess: androidauthority.com/state-of-usb-t…

15/ To TLDR the common gripes:
The manufacturers seem to implement the standard differently, thus...
- Charging speed varies strongly across USB-C cables and devices
- Data speed fluctuates

leading to:
- Ongoing compatibility issues
- Differently functioning USB-C cables

16/ So… what comes next? USB-C in a way is future-proof, similar to the current iPhone: It will get a few years of iOS updates, USB-C will get a few years of protocol updates, till we reach its connectors physical limits and need hundreds of Gb/s data speed and W power.

17/ When will that come? Who knows. But with the advent and bets on the metaverse and AR glasses (think how much energy and bandwidth streaming two 8k displays at the same time will take) it might be sooner than later.

18/ This is why I am sceptical of the EU proposal of unifying around USB-C, although I would clearly prefer carrying only 1 cable with 1 connector for all my devices. A good article by @AndroidPolice pointing out the issues further: androidpolice.com/2021/09/23/why…

19/ Their motivation as often is a good one though (improving consumer experience, lowering etrash and reducing CO2 levels), and their research is well funded (if a bit optimistic). Worth flipping through for further reading here: op.europa.eu/o/opportal-ser…

20/ My hope for a USB-C iPhone is also fairly low: if the proposal passes next year, Apple still has 2 more years to fully switch to wireless, so till the 16. They already started pushing it strongly with the 12 and MagSafe, and how thin could they make an iPhone without ports?

21/ If you enjoyed this thread, follow @skagarroum for more threads.

Quick shoutout to @cyrusbeans for one of the conversations that started this thread.