I still remember when I was playing around with parallel port as an EE, USB was both exciting and annoying. You always have to plug it in three times to get it right. While it was many times faster the Spec IIRC was 200 page long. Manageable but far more complicated than Parallel Port. When USB 2.0 arrives IIRC it was 550 pages and I thought how is anyone going to understand all these.
And then it was my story on looking into reversible plug ( USB-C ) way ahead of its time.
It was around 2000 when I really felt computer as a whole is so abstracted I longer have a good mental model of how any thing works. Both in software and hardware. It was just we pass it to this sub system and hope it works.
Over time, I've come to realize that USB is a triumph of marketing and compatibility rather than tech.
Faster data rate(FireWire400, 800), isochronous transfers(FireWire) full duplex(FireWire800), and reversible plugs(Thunderbolt) were all available elsewhere much earlier but USB gives you them all through the same socket.
I still remember when I was playing around with parallel port as an EE, USB was both exciting and annoying. You always have to plug it in three times to get it right. While it was many times faster the Spec IIRC was 200 page long. Manageable but far more complicated than Parallel Port. When USB 2.0 arrives IIRC it was 550 pages and I thought how is anyone going to understand all these.
And then it was my story on looking into reversible plug ( USB-C ) way ahead of its time.
It was around 2000 when I really felt computer as a whole is so abstracted I longer have a good mental model of how any thing works. Both in software and hardware. It was just we pass it to this sub system and hope it works.
Never really had the '3 times' problem, because I realised very early on that the USB logo is always on the 'up' side.
Over time, I've come to realize that USB is a triumph of marketing and compatibility rather than tech.
Faster data rate(FireWire400, 800), isochronous transfers(FireWire) full duplex(FireWire800), and reversible plugs(Thunderbolt) were all available elsewhere much earlier but USB gives you them all through the same socket.