General > General Technical Chat

USB-C mechanical design is flimsy and pathetic.

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SilverSolder:

I've modded my Android smart phone with a much larger battery - I'm happy to pay the 2x thickness in return for the 5 day charging interval!

SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on September 27, 2020, 11:09:15 am ---
--- Quote from: ajb on September 19, 2020, 09:36:10 pm ---I don't know about you, but every. single. time. I plug in a rectangular connector I have to look at the connector, look at the socket and see if it's the right way round.  Whether it's a micro B, full size A, or DP, or even a ribbon cable.  Oftentimes it's in low light or sometimes in a place I can't see.  You don't have to be a woo woo visionary to see that if you can solve that problem by designing a connector with 180d symmetry the life-time cumulative ease of use improvement is HUGE.
--- End quote ---

Reversible micro usb cable
https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Cables/USB/63777-U2MCAB-02RR

--- End quote ---

I've just ordered a couple of reversible USB cables (not the ones linked, though).  I found some where both ends are reversible.  Will be interesting to see how well that works.  I'm thinking it might be good in the car, instead of fumbling with the "non reversible" connectors.

sokoloff:

--- Quote from: David Hess on September 29, 2020, 09:14:21 pm ---Would you trade a smaller iPhone for one with several times the operating time and battery life, better speakers, a better microphone, and better cameras?

The opportunity cost of thinner iPhones is worse operating time and battery life, worse speakers, a worse microphone, and worse cameras.

--- End quote ---
The battery already lasts me almost two days of typical use between charging and I don't have any personal use for better speakers or microphone on my phone. A better camera would always be welcome, but the camera in the XS Max is pretty damn good already. So a camera improvement would be welcome, but since I wouldn't pay even $100 extra if there existed a phone that was otherwise identical but had a 50% better camera, it's not a big driver for me. I wouldn't pay even $10 more for a 50% better battery, speakers, or microphone.

tooki:

--- Quote from: David Hess on September 29, 2020, 09:14:21 pm ---
--- Quote from: eti on September 28, 2020, 11:34:59 pm ---
--- Quote from: David Hess on September 28, 2020, 11:22:55 pm ---I will call thin and raise you "no bezel".  So now I cannot hold the phone without covering part of the screen, or even triggering touch, and there is no  room at the top and bottom for speakers and microphones so the sound is worse.
--- End quote ---

But it's "progress" (which, funnily, wasn't even mentioned or even slightly obsessed over until the "command signal" from consumer tech giant HQ was beamed out, via KeyNote, over the years  ;D) - show's how easily sold people are!
--- End quote ---

Part of marketing is creating need where none exists.


--- Quote from: sokoloff on September 28, 2020, 11:40:52 pm ---Do I ever wish my phone was slower, thicker, heavier, or had a keyed charging connector? Not for a minute.
--- End quote ---

Would you trade a smaller iPhone for one with several times the operating time and battery life, better speakers, a better microphone, and better cameras?

The opportunity cost of thinner iPhones is worse operating time and battery life, worse speakers, a worse microphone, and worse cameras.

--- End quote ---
In theory, yes. But some of those can be overcome to an extent by clever engineering. Apple manages to coax surprisingly good sound out of the microphone arrays in the iPhones, for example. (Far, far better than other smartphones.) Similarly, the cameras are very good for their thickness.

I do understand what you mean, though, in that some things are limited by physics. But a poorly implemented large design can still be much worse than a really skilled implementation of the small design. (Like how a typical tape recorder’s internal microphone sucked, even though they had the space to construct an optimized acoustic design to get more out of those microphone capsules.)

Anyhow, if Apple decided to release an iPhone model that’s twice as thick as the current ones, but with 3-4x the battery life, I’d jump on that in a heartbeat. (That’d be about the thickness of the original 2007 iPhone, which I think felt better in the hand than any model since, since it had enough girth to allow a comfortable grip.)

SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: tooki on September 30, 2020, 10:24:55 am ---[...]
Anyhow, if Apple decided to release an iPhone model that’s twice as thick as the current ones, but with 3-4x the battery life, I’d jump on that in a heartbeat. (That’d be about the thickness of the original 2007 iPhone, which I think felt better in the hand than any model since, since it had enough girth to allow a comfortable grip.)

--- End quote ---

Exactly - the current phones are simply thinner than they need to be...  one parameter has been over-optimized to the point where it is almost becoming a negative, to the exclusion of all else.  Fashion and marketing driven, just like tail fins on cars in the 50's, and hopefully the latest fad will suffer the same fate eventually!  :D

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