Blame the standards group. There are so many things USB is excellent at but they have been horrifically butchering the implementation.
They need to mandate compliance. Each accessory should support a basic level of features. Packaging and listings should include a facts table which shows the support for the various features. You shouldn’t have to guess.
But let’s talk about the features. Oh. My. God. Let’s talk about it.
USB-PD is great. But they don’t have to support it. Or they can have their own implementation which is also compliant. Or their own implementation which isn’t.
Oh, but you can connect your headphones into the USB port and play music! Well, only if the device, cable, and headphones support analog audio. Or if the device, cable, and headphones support digital audio. But if it supports digital audio, both devices must support synchronous audio. Or asynchronous. Or adaptive. And none of these are cross-compatible.
Well, that’s annoying. At least video isn’t bad. You can use it to connect directly to your monitor! Just make sure it’s DP. Or HDMI. Or VGA. Or MHL. Or VirtualLink. Only DP and HDMI are cross-compatible.
They also can support Ethernet. Or they might not. They could support ThunderBolt. Or they won’t.
They have to be at least USB 3.0. Sorry, 3.1 Gen 1. Wait, 3.2 Gen 1x1. Oh, I mean SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps. Ah, fuck, never mind they changed the standard again - USB1/2 are fine.
But at least manufacturers are happy to put the specs on their packaging and listings, right? I’m sure there isn’t any natural incentive to hide this information so they can sell inferior products.
Blame the standards group. There are so many things USB is excellent at but they have been horrifically butchering the implementation.
They need to mandate compliance. Each accessory should support a basic level of features. Packaging and listings should include a facts table which shows the support for the various features. You shouldn’t have to guess.
But let’s talk about the features. Oh. My. God. Let’s talk about it.
USB-PD is great. But they don’t have to support it. Or they can have their own implementation which is also compliant. Or their own implementation which isn’t.
Oh, but you can connect your headphones into the USB port and play music! Well, only if the device, cable, and headphones support analog audio. Or if the device, cable, and headphones support digital audio. But if it supports digital audio, both devices must support synchronous audio. Or asynchronous. Or adaptive. And none of these are cross-compatible.
Well, that’s annoying. At least video isn’t bad. You can use it to connect directly to your monitor! Just make sure it’s DP. Or HDMI. Or VGA. Or MHL. Or VirtualLink. Only DP and HDMI are cross-compatible.
They also can support Ethernet. Or they might not. They could support ThunderBolt. Or they won’t.
They have to be at least USB 3.0. Sorry, 3.1 Gen 1. Wait, 3.2 Gen 1x1. Oh, I mean SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps. Ah, fuck, never mind they changed the standard again - USB1/2 are fine.
But at least manufacturers are happy to put the specs on their packaging and listings, right? I’m sure there isn’t any natural incentive to hide this information so they can sell inferior products.