USB Device Orientation

File this one under "pieces". I work on a frighteningly large number of computers in the course of my work week. In addition to my theories about the "connector conspiracy", perpetrated on the consuming public, one of the great annoyances in life is the lack of standardization in interconnects.


There appears to be a distinct "not invented here" mentality amongst the engineers and designers of consumer and professional electronics. Either that or the bean counters are forcing engineering to use the cheapest parts available. Or marketing has some twisted "sole provider" scheme hoping to increase sales by forcing customers to by from the OEM. I'm not sure what actually drives it, but interconnect incompatibility is a real problem. I'm not saying we need a government agency standardizing things (like the government can actually solve any problem...) like interconnects, only that the consumers really need to demand standards by voting with their pocket books.


The absolute worst family of interconnects is the power supply input. Not only does there seem to be no standardization on size versus voltage but there is a (sometimes deadly) lack of a polarization standard. Grab the wrong wallwart and even though it will fit in a device and even if it is the correct voltage one has a 50/50 chance of having the wrong polarity! Most devices are tolerant of a undervoltage. Generally there is some tolerance for over voltage. Without protection diodes a polarity reversal can be catastrophic!


Another family of connectors has it's own collection of problems. I'm talking about the Universal Serial Bus family of interconnects. One would think, with a name beginning with the word "universal", the USB family would be interchangeable.

Not so! I believe the standard standardized the physical layer voltage level and communication protocols. The connectors themselves started out with the USB "A" male and female connectors.

I had a scanner that used the "A" series connections. It wasn't quite as fast as my SCSI scanner, but the cable/connector combo was much more convenient. Many peripherals then showed up using the USB "B" connector.

My second digital camera had the USB "B" style connector. Smaller than the "A" connector, it was still a rugged connector and I actually liked it better than the "A" style connector because one could tell which way the connector mated with the device at a glance.

Next came the USB "C" mini connector, epitomized by my current digital camera, and then the "D" and who knows now?


All of them will plug into any other one IF you have the correct adapter/cable combinations. So they are Universal in that sense. And nearly all you the large, flat "A" style connector on one end.

My rant? No bloody standard for orientation of the "A" connector, that's what! There is no standard in the orientation of the USB jacks on devices. Not even among the same manufacturer! For example I support a lot of Dell computers (12,000+ on my network). I stick my USB memory sticks into at least a 1/2 a dozen different computers everyday. I'm not bashing Dell here, it's just that is what I see the most of on a daily basis.

To prove my point try putting your memory stick into just 3 different computers. I will wager that one of them goes in the opposite way of the others. Sometimes the front panel USB ports require my memory stick to be inserted with the label up, some with the label down. It's not a big thing in the grand design, but as many times as I put a USB stick in a computer every day, it sure is annoying!

So how about manufacturers?