1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from house 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech stuff. 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,240 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland, senior writer for a house 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com, and today I wanted to take 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: a look at a technology protocol that's become ubiquitous, one 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: might even say universal. I'm talking about the Universal Serial Bus, 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: better known as USB. Now you'll find these ports on computers, smartphones, 8 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: digital cameras, scanners, printers, and tons of other electronic devices. 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: So what are they, who invented them? And how do 10 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: they work? You know, your standard tech stuff type episode. Well, 11 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: you could just go and read the specification for USB 12 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: if you really wanted to, and that would give you 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: all the information you need and more. For example, the 14 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: specification for USB two point oh is a mirror six 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: hundred fifty pages long. It seems a bit excessive to me, 16 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: So let's break down the topic tech stuff style. So first, 17 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: let's talk about what a bus is. In computer terms, 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: a bus is essentially a conduit for data. Think of 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: it like a hallway that data can pass through. It's 20 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: a communication pathway that lets different components within a computer 21 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: or two different devices send data back and forth between 22 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,559 Speaker 1: each other. That means some buses are internal and facilitate 23 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: communication within a single device. Other buses are external and 24 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: allow for the communication of different components like a smartphone 25 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: to a computer for example. So inside a computer, you 26 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: would have a bus connecting components like the microprocessor and 27 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: a memory storage device like a hard drive. So the 28 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: computers operating memory and CPU tend to be very closely 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: tied together, as in its operating memory like the random 30 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: access memory. That and the CPU are usually real tight, 31 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: but they still have a bus. It's usually called the 32 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: system bus that connects the two. And just as microprocessors 33 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: and memory have improved over time, so if buses, they've 34 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: improved to allow more data to pass through at a 35 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: single time. Now, keep in mind information is traveling at 36 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,239 Speaker 1: pretty much the same speed, you know, more or less 37 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: the speed of light. It's not quite the same, but 38 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: for the purposes of our argument, it works just fine. 39 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: So really the question is how much data can you 40 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: move through the bus simultaneously? Or if we wanted to 41 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: use a metaphor, imagine that you have an eye dropper 42 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: and your friend has a bucket, and you're each taking 43 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: water from one puddle and walking across a field at 44 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: the same speed and depositing that water into a little 45 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: dip and the other end of the field that's going 46 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: to become the new puddle. So you're just relocating water 47 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: from one puddle to the other. Now you're walking at 48 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: the same speed, so you're not It's not that your 49 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: friend is going faster than you are, but they can 50 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: carry more water per trip, so they're delivering more water 51 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: every time they make this trip, and even though you're 52 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,119 Speaker 1: both going the same speed. This is why I get 53 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: a little antsie about data speeds, because it's not really 54 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: so much about speed. It's more about the amount of 55 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: data you can carry at a time. That's kind of 56 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: what I'm getting at. So if you hear like this 57 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: computer sends data faster than that computer, the information is 58 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: still traveling it more or less the same speed, depending 59 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: upon what you know medium they're using, But it all 60 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: is down to how much information can pass through at 61 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: any given time. Now, there are also busses that allow 62 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: data transfers with sources that are external to a computer. Again, 63 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: the smartphone is a great example, where a digital cameras, 64 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: anything like that. The buses facilitate the data transfer which 65 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: typically happens over a cable, And there are plenty ways 66 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,559 Speaker 1: to transmit data wirelessly, but we're just going to concentrate 67 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: on cables and tethered peripherals today because that's what USB 68 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: works with, right, That's the protocol, is that you're using 69 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: physical connections. In other episodes, I'll talk about stuff like 70 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: WiFi or Bluetooth or other methods of transferring data around. Now. 71 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: Before USB ports became a standard way to connect various 72 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: components to a computer, we had to rely on other 73 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: types of ports, like parallel and serial ports. Cereal ports 74 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: are se r I a L ports, not not cereal 75 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: like Captain crunch. They're basic computer connections. They send bytes 76 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,119 Speaker 1: of data one bit at a time. So, in case 77 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: you don't remember basic computer lingo, a bite is eight bits, 78 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: and a bit is a single unit of information in 79 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: computer speech, it's either a zero or a one, which 80 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: is kind of like an off on switch, So a 81 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: bite is eight of these collected together. Serial ports send 82 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: information one bit at a time, one zero or one one, 83 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 1: and then does a whole sequence of those Serial parts 84 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 1: had either nine or twenty five pens. The nine pin 85 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: connector was a standard for modems. We're talking about the 86 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: old dial up modems that would connect to your phone 87 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: line and allow your computer to communicate with the outside world. 88 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: If you don't know what a dial up modem is, uh, 89 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: you know, ask your parents. Each pen was designed to 90 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: allow for communication between the computer and the modem in 91 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: some way. The pin connector was meant to become a 92 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: new standard, but with so much larger than the nine 93 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: pin connectors that it was a bit hamstrung from the start. 94 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: Not everyone adopted it. In fact, a lot of manufacturers 95 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: just stuck with nine pen peripherals rather than adopt the standard. 96 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: Serial ports had a range of data transmission speeds from 97 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: one fifteen to more than four hundred fifty kill abits 98 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:23,919 Speaker 1: per second, so four hundred fifty thousand bits per second 99 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: was around the upper range of that. Now, some serial 100 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: ports wouldn't allow for simultaneous operation, which meant that if 101 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: the computer was sending out data through one serial port, 102 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: it could not send out data to other serial parts 103 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: at the same time, and somewhat problematic if you're trying 104 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: to do a whole lot of stuff connected to one machine. 105 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: Parallel ports were often for stuff like CD burners, printers, 106 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: scanners and external hard drives where you wanted to have 107 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 1: a faster data transfer because otherwise you're gonna be sitting 108 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: around for a really long time. So it's not that 109 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: sereal parts are necessarily bad for stuff. There are plenty 110 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: of operations where you only need a little bit of 111 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: data going between a device and a computer. It doesn't 112 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: have to be super quote unquote fast because it's just 113 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: not data hungry. But other things, like if you want 114 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: a hard drive, you want something that's going to move 115 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: data and larger amounts in that amount of time, because 116 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: otherwise you're gonna wait forever every time you try to 117 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: save a large file to that hard drive or to 118 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: retrieve a large file from that hard drive. Now, IBM 119 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: developed parallel ports specifically to create an interface between a 120 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: computer and a printer. When IBM was first building personal computers, 121 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: it partnered with a company called Centronics, and Centronics made computers. 122 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: Centronics had a thirty six pin connector, meaning that the 123 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: cable ended in a plug and that plug had thirty 124 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: six pins arranged in a row that would then plug 125 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: into a port that had thirty six holes for those pins. 126 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: IBM decided to couple this thirty six pin with a 127 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: second line of pins twenty five in total. So together 128 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: these two rows of pins were used as the standard 129 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: for IBM computers, and when other companies began to create 130 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: clones of the IBM PC, they also created those types 131 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: of ports. I've got to do a full episode about 132 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: IBM clones at some point, and I talked about them 133 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: briefly in a couple of other episodes. But really it's 134 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: a fascinating thing to hear the story about how other 135 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: companies were able to take advantage of IBM's design. Now 136 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: it's called a parallel port because data would flow parallel 137 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: to each other. Data traveled one byte at a time, 138 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,079 Speaker 1: not a bit, but a bite, a collection of eight bits, 139 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: which made parallel ports much faster than serial ports, or 140 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: more accurately, it could send more data in the same 141 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: amount of time. Parallel ports could transfer at about one 142 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: kilobytes per second. But Jonathan, I hear you say. You 143 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: mentioned that Series A boards have a range of a 144 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: hundred fifty kill a bits per second. Yeah, I did 145 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: say that, But parallel parts are sending bytes, not bits, 146 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: and that bite is that collection of eight bits, So 147 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: one kill of bytes is the same as approximately eight 148 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: hundred kill of bits. The parallel ports could send more data, 149 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: though with some peripherals this amount of data is really unnecessary, 150 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: which is why serial ports didn't just disappear. They were 151 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: still useful for certain applications, and they were cheap. So 152 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 1: now let's talk about some of the pins in the 153 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: parallel parts. We mentioned them in the serial ones. Well, 154 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: if you were to look at them and number them 155 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: across the row on both the pen and the sixty 156 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: thirty six pin connectors rather thirty six pin connectors, pins 157 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: two through nine on those connectors carried those eight bits. 158 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: PEN one carried a voltage between two point eight and 159 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: five volts. The computer would drop the voltage to point 160 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: five volts whenever it was sending data to a printer 161 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: or other device, so that was kind of like an 162 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: alert to a printer to be on the lookout for data. 163 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: If it detected a voltage drop, it knew that information 164 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: was incoming, so it's kind of a heads up. PEN 165 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: ten was reserved for an acknowledge signal, this time sent 166 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: from the printer to the computer, So this was essentially 167 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: got you, bro So computer says heads up, printer says, 168 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: got you bro and that lets the computer knows that 169 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,719 Speaker 1: the message had been received. Other pens were used to 170 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: let the computer know if the printer was busy, or 171 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 1: if it was out of paper or ink or something 172 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: along those lines, or they were ground connectors as an 173 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: electrical ground connectors. Future improvements and parallel processors allowed for 174 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: bidirectional communication, meaning that the printer and computer could talk 175 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: to each other, not just one way communication. But the 176 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: original standard only allowed data to flow one way at 177 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: any given time. So ultimately you would get to parallel 178 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: ports that could have simultaneous bidirectional communication. But that wasn't 179 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: how it started. Now, as we created new peripherals for computers, 180 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: we also created new ports. You'd use expansion cards for 181 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: your computer, and those would plug into the main circuit 182 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: board the motherboard on a computer to create the connection. 183 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: So if you've never built a machine or ever had 184 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: to customize one, this might sound a little weird, but 185 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: here's what it meant. It meant you'd open up a 186 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: computer case, you'd pop out. Typically there'd be a metal 187 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: plate on the back side of a computer case that 188 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: would cover up what would otherwise be just a kind 189 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: of an oblong hole. Uh, you would end up taking 190 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: the plate off of that so that the hole was open, 191 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: you would insert a card into a slot on the 192 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: that main circuit board. UH. It would seat the card properly, 193 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: so you'd make sure that it was plugged in nice 194 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: and snug, and you would make sure that you were 195 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: using the card slot so that the back of the 196 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: card is lined up with that new hole that you've 197 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: uncovered on the back of your case. UH. This would 198 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: allow you to plug in devices externally from the computer. 199 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: It would just plug in through that hole where the 200 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 1: port would be. So the whole is the reason why 201 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: the plate is there is to keep the computers safe 202 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: from stuff like dust. You know, you don't want to 203 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: just have a bunch of open areas to your computer 204 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: or else it can get dusty, which can then mess 205 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: up the internal mechanisms. Not really even mechanisms. It can 206 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: just make things overheat and break down and short out 207 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: a computer if it's really really bad. That's why we 208 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: have computer fans and stuff like that. It's not just 209 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 1: to manage the heat, it's also to manage the dust. 210 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: So you take that plate off, you reveal the spot 211 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: you've seated the card, you put it all back together, 212 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,559 Speaker 1: and then you would plug your new puripheral into your 213 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: new port and you would turn on the computer and 214 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: find out if it worked or not, and if it 215 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: didn't work, you had to start troubleshooting. Typically it would 216 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: also and you'd have to turn the computer off again 217 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: because the way a lot of these old systems work, 218 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: they weren't plug in play. You couldn't hot plug a 219 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: device into computers for a lot of these ports. That 220 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: means that you had actually turned the computer off, plug 221 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: the device in, turned the computer on, and then it 222 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: would start to pull information or send information to that device, 223 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: kind of a primitive way of doing it. And on 224 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: top of that, some of the devices had proprietary plugs 225 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: and ports. For example, in IBM introduced the ps slash 226 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: two port for keyboards and mouses, micesces you know what 227 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,959 Speaker 1: I mean. The port is circular with six pens arranged 228 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: in pairs around kind of a rectangular center, and it 229 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: communicated through a serial protocol, but it had a totally 230 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:55,959 Speaker 1: different shape from your typical cereal plugs and ports keyboards 231 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: were similar. And then there's the idea that about plugging 232 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: stuff while your computer is on. Yeah, not a thing 233 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: at those times. A hot port would allow you to 234 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: plug a device in whether a computer is on or off, 235 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: and then the PC recognizes that there's a connection and 236 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: it allows you to use whatever that devices. These old ports, 237 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: for the most part, did not allow for that unless 238 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: you had the computer turn on and go through its 239 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: boot program and then detect all of these peripherals. It 240 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: just didn't recognize that anything new was attached to it. 241 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: So why don't we still depend upon these and other 242 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: specialized ports. Well, some computers still have special serial or 243 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: parallel ports, but most of them now have some type 244 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: of USB port or HDMI port for some displays. And 245 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: part of the problem is that over the years, the 246 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: number of peripherals for computer systems grew substantially, but you 247 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: can only fit so many ports on a computer. There's 248 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: only so much physical space you can use, and each 249 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: port required its own card blood into a computer's motherboard, 250 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: so there are only so many slots on a motherboard 251 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: you could use. Up on top of that, you need 252 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: to designate special numbers for each card plugging into the motherboard, 253 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: and that included an interrupt request also known as an 254 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: I r Q, and an input output address or the 255 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: IO address. Now, those numbers are hard coded onto cards, 256 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: so it doesn't mean that you have to come up 257 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: with a number, it's on the card itself. But that 258 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: also meant that you could potentially encounter conflicts between different 259 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: cards for different products. Let's say that you've got, you know, 260 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: a video card from one company and a totally different 261 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: peripheral card. Let's say it's for a specific type of 262 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: scanner from another company, and just by coincidence, they have 263 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: conflicts in either the ir Q or the I O address. 264 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: This could cause issues, and that would sometimes mean that 265 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: peripherals would become incompatible with one another, and that no 266 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: way to run both off the same machine. So you 267 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: might find that you can have either a display or 268 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: a skinner attached to this computer, but not both. Not ideal, 269 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: And then you had all the different kinds of plugs 270 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: making it confusing to consumers. You can't just plug any 271 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: peripheral into any port. That's why older computers frequently have 272 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: color coded ports and helps the user know which one 273 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: is for a keyboard versus a mouse, that kind of thing. 274 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: So what would be the solution to this, Well, that 275 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: would be the universal Cereal bus. And I'm going to 276 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: go into more detail about exactly how it pulled it 277 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: off in just a second, but first let's take a 278 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: quick break to thank our sponsor. So a much more 279 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: attractive alternative to these serial and parallel ports is plug 280 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: and play, which is that concept in which you can 281 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: just plug a device in using a standardized connector on 282 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:04,479 Speaker 1: a aderdized port and it just works. And USB can 283 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: do that. It can also dramatically increase the number of 284 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: peripherals you can attach to a single home device, whether 285 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: it's a hub or a computer or whatever. The USB 286 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: standard allows up to one twenty seven devices to connect 287 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: to a single source. That would mean you need a 288 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: few USB hubs to max it out, so you might 289 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: have one thing plugged into a USB port that actually 290 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: has five other USB ports in that then you could 291 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 1: expand that. It's kind of like plugging, um, you know, 292 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: like a bunch of power strips into each other in 293 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: order to maximize the number of power chords that you 294 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: can attach to one outlet, only slightly less dangerous. There's 295 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: not really a huge risk for fire in the case 296 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 1: of the hundred twenty seven devices attached to a single 297 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: home computer. The important thing to remember really is that 298 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 1: it opens up possibilities for far more connections than parallel 299 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: or serial ports, which are one customer at a time 300 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: kind of ports. And plugging a peripher role into a 301 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,160 Speaker 1: host computer is supposed to be easy with USB, assuming 302 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: that you haven't facing the right way. More on that 303 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: in a second. The computer is in charge of communications, 304 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,959 Speaker 1: so it detects the type of device that gets plugged 305 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: into any given USB board, and then the computer is 306 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: supposed to load a compatible driver for whatever that periph 307 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: role is. And this is what allows a peripheral device 308 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: like a keyboard or a printer or a digital camera 309 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: to communicate with the computer in a in a nice 310 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 1: smooth way. Computers downstream data to devices which upstream data 311 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: to computers, and it's all very civilized, I assure you. 312 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: I mean, there's another really important point. The USB protocol 313 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: allows for powered connections. That means the ports and cables 314 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: can carry electricity to power devices as well as a 315 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: voltage to indicate data transfer. And that was really importan 316 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: and it allowed for options that simplified cable management. If 317 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: a peripheral could transmit data and receive power through one cable, 318 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: it could cut down on some clutter. So This is 319 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: why you can find lots of little plug in toys 320 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: and do dads that will attached via a USB cable. 321 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: So it might be a little desk lamp or a 322 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: little a little desktop missile launcher. I've seen those on 323 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: Think Geek. I really need to get some of those. Hey, 324 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: if anyone's over at Think Geek and you've got a 325 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: few extra little USB missile launchers, send them to how 326 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: stuff works? Uh. I think the office could really step 327 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:40,439 Speaker 1: up its inter company warfare anyway. Now, we tend to 328 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: use USB to refer to specific physical things like the 329 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: ports or the cables, but you have to remember USB 330 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: is an underlying technology protocol. The physical things we have 331 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: are specific implementations of that technology, and they are dependent 332 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: upon various versions of the USB standard. But the standard, 333 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: it is the real heart of USB. It's not a cable, 334 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: it's not a device, it's not even a computer. It's 335 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:11,400 Speaker 1: the protocol that defines the behavior of USB. Now, right now, 336 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: as I'm recording this episode, the most recent version of 337 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,920 Speaker 1: the USB standard is version three point one, and I'll 338 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: talk more about what that means in just a moment 339 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: before we can really look at where we stand right 340 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 1: now we should probably take a look at where it 341 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: all got started. And you know me, you know I 342 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: love my tech history. So how did the USB protocol 343 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 1: spring into being? Wells use on Mount Olympus once stubbed 344 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: his toe and from that toe. I wish that were 345 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: the case, because that would be a cool story. I 346 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: love Greek mythology. But back in an Intel developer named A. J. 347 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: Bott began working on a solution to this peripheral problem. 348 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: And at the same time, there was a group called 349 00:20:55,680 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 1: the USB implement Ers Forum Incorporated or USB dash i 350 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: F that came into being, and that group included people 351 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:09,440 Speaker 1: from Intel, Compact, Apple, Hewitt, Packard, and Microsoft, among others. 352 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: This confederation of companies was necessary in order to develop 353 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: a standard protocol that would work across a vast array 354 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: of computers and devices. So they wanted to make sure 355 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: that if anyone incorporated this into their designs, it was 356 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: incorporated across the board, otherwise it would be limited in 357 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: its usefulness. It certainly wouldn't become a universal serial bus. 358 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: And they also really wanted to simplify ports. They wanted 359 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 1: to reduce the half dozen standards with a single replacement 360 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,479 Speaker 1: and ideally it wouldn't matter what you plugged into your 361 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,640 Speaker 1: computer or which port you used. It would just work. 362 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: Whether you plugged it in the front the back didn't matter. 363 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,360 Speaker 1: The computer would automatically recognize it. That's what they wanted, 364 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: so they had to create something to make it happen. 365 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,919 Speaker 1: In late they did have something to show off. They 366 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: had worked for a full year and they had developed 367 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: the standard that was called USB one point oh. The 368 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: protocol only gave a hint at what was to come. 369 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: It could transmit data at twelve megabits per second, which 370 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: was much faster than parallel or serial parts, though sluggish 371 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,840 Speaker 1: compared to today's technology. The revised USB one point one 372 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: standard added in another capability of transferring data, but this 373 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: time at one point five megabits per second. So why 374 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: would you lower that quote unquote speed or the capacity 375 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: if you prefer Well, the reason was that some devices 376 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: just couldn't handle a bandwidth of twelve megabits per second. 377 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: They didn't need it. They couldn't handle that much. So 378 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: you needed to have a throttling mechanism in order to 379 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: send data at the proper rate to those peripherals. And 380 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: that was the solution of USB one point one and 381 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: one point one got the most used in those early days, 382 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,679 Speaker 1: not a whole lot of devices UD USB one point oh. 383 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: Almost everyone was using one point one from as soon 384 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: as it was available. It just made more sense. The 385 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: first computer to essue all other ports in favor of 386 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: the new USB standard was the iMac G three In 387 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: so Apple lad the way. It probably comes as as 388 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: a surprise to absolutely no one out there in the audience, 389 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,679 Speaker 1: because Apple is known for dumping legacy systems in favor 390 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: of new technology, at least with their computers, if not 391 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: their mobile devices. Sometimes they hold back with mobile devices, 392 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: but they charge ahead with their computers. So with USB 393 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: devices it wasn't such a big deal since we're talking 394 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: about the universal standard. In other cases, Apple has sometimes 395 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,959 Speaker 1: gone a more proprietary approach, which gets a bit more 396 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 1: frustrating because that means you invest in a closed off 397 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: ecosystem and you can't really use your equipment with anyone 398 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 1: else's stuff. In other words, if it's a USB chord, 399 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: you can use that on an Apple product or a 400 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: PC where all sorts of other devices that have USB 401 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 1: ports and it doesn't matter. But if Apple goes a 402 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: proprietary route and the only people making devices and cables 403 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: are doing it for Apple. Then it doesn't do you 404 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: any good to have that stuff and then encounter a PC. 405 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: You can't just use that same stuff because the plugs 406 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 1: won't fit, the protocols aren't the same, they're not supported 407 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: by this other piece of equipment. The Universal standard gets 408 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: around that kind of problem. In two thousand, the USB 409 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: two point oh standard debut, and it blew USB one 410 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: point one out of the water. Now, transfer rates had 411 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: jumped up to a four d eighty megabits per second, 412 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: which was forty times faster or rather forty times greater 413 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: capacity than the previous version. In two thousand one, USB 414 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: two point oh became an official standard. In order to 415 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: ensure backwards compatibility. The USB two point oh standard could 416 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: also operate at transfer speeds of twelve megabits per second 417 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: and one point five megabits per second. Now. That was 418 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,439 Speaker 1: done to avoid the problem of updating a protocol and 419 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: making a ton of tech obsolete. At the same time, 420 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,880 Speaker 1: it also meant that you could plug a USB one 421 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 1: point one device into a USB two point oh port, 422 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: or even use a USB two point oh cable with 423 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: a USB one point one port. The only real problem 424 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: is that if you had a USB two point oh 425 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: device and you plugged it into a USB one point 426 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: one port, you might not be able to use the 427 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 1: USB two point o device because it would receive a 428 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: smaller amount of data over time. So if it needed 429 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: that faster transfer rate, then the device wouldn't really work 430 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,679 Speaker 1: well with a USB one point one port. Otherwise it 431 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: was pretty much backwards compatible. Also, obviously, if you really 432 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: wanted to get the most out of everything, you needed 433 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: to go two point oh across the board. You had 434 00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: to have a two point o port, you had to 435 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: have a cable that was two point oh compatible, and 436 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: you had to have a two point o device all 437 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: working together. Otherwise you are moving as fast as the 438 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: slowest member of the team. Right It's like a relay 439 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: race team. If one person is slow, that affects the 440 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: whole team. Same thing with these components. If one component 441 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,159 Speaker 1: was USB one point one, twelve megabits per second was 442 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: as fast as the data could travel. You could not 443 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: get to that speed. USB two point oh also added 444 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,160 Speaker 1: a feature called USB on the go that allowed two 445 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: USB devices to interface through USB without the need for 446 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: a third component to act as host. In other words, 447 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,160 Speaker 1: you could connect to USB two point o devices directly 448 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,439 Speaker 1: with each other using the appropriate cable, without having a 449 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 1: computer as the go between. So if I had maybe 450 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,360 Speaker 1: a camera and a phone, I might want to transfer 451 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: pictures I've taken with my camera onto my phone for 452 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:00,880 Speaker 1: some reason. Maybe I want to share are them. Maybe 453 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: I'm just using my phone as sort of an external 454 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:07,439 Speaker 1: hard drive. With this USB on the go feature, you 455 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: could do that without having to plug both devices into 456 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: a computer first. The earlier version of USB the computer 457 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: was kind of master control. Everything had to go through it, 458 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: so this was a big innovation. Around this time, we 459 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: also saw the first USB flash drives, which are sometimes 460 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: known as thumb drives or pen drives. These are those 461 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: little storage devices that you plug into a USB port 462 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: and they feature rewritable flash based memory. I got a 463 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 1: ton of these from various trips to tech trade shows, 464 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,200 Speaker 1: and I love them because I could pull the data 465 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: from that flash drive onto my computer. I could then 466 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 1: wipe the flash drive and then use them for all 467 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: sorts of stuff like documents, pictures, that kind of thing. 468 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 1: So a lot of my backups are on flash drives. 469 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: The original flash drives could hold a whopping eight megabytes 470 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: of data. And that's me kind of being a little 471 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: coy about how primitive our past was, because today you 472 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,040 Speaker 1: can find flash drives that hold on to hundreds of 473 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: gigabytes of data, which still sounds kind of crazy to me. 474 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: There's part of my brain that refuses to acknowledge that 475 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: you could fit two hundred gigabytes of data onto something 476 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 1: like a thumb drive. Now, with USB three point oh, 477 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:23,400 Speaker 1: you get another boost in that capacity, that data transfer rate, 478 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: this time hitting four point eight gigabits per second four 479 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 1: point eight billion bits per second. It's also backwards compatible 480 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: with USB two point o devices and ports, though again, 481 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: if you have a USB three point oh device and 482 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: you connect it to a computer through a USB two 483 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: point o port, you're not gonna get the full benefit 484 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: of the technology. You can't get that four point eight 485 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: gigabit per second transfer rate. Technically, you probably never would 486 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: hit that rate anyway. That's sort of the top end 487 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: of what the data transfer rates are. Usually real world 488 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: examples are slightly lower than that, but you get what 489 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: I mean. The USB three point oh standard also allows 490 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: for simultaneous uploading and downloading on separate wires two for 491 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: transmission too for receiving data. So this sped things up 492 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: because you didn't have to wait for a communication to 493 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 1: go one route and then for it to come back 494 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: the other way. You had dedicated wires just for the 495 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,320 Speaker 1: uploading or downloading of information. It's kind of like having 496 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,640 Speaker 1: separate lanes on a highway. By doing that, you allow 497 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: for much faster transfers. And I'll talk more about the 498 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: wires that you can find in USB cables in a 499 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: little bit. One of the things that the USB three 500 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 1: point protocols allow for is the connection of data hungry peripherals, 501 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,280 Speaker 1: stuff that needs lots and lots of information in a 502 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: very short amount of time. So an example, there's a 503 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: high resolution display because they are constantly refreshing and redrawing 504 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: the screen so that you can see new stuff. Otherwise 505 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: it would just be a series of senti there is 506 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: very slowly regenerating. You've got to have that super fast 507 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: data transfer rate otherwise you can't get high definition displays otherwise. 508 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: So this was a way of creating a plug in 509 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: play approach to stuff even as sophisticated as a high 510 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 1: resolution display, and it also allows for high speed data 511 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: transfers to storage drive. So if you've ever had to 512 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: move a large file from an internal drive to an 513 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: external drive, you know it can take a long time. 514 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: Like let's say that you've got a an internal drive 515 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: that's a couple of gigabytes in size, and you have 516 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: an external data drive, and you think, I'm just gonna 517 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: move everything over to there so i can free up 518 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: space in my computer. If you've ever done that with 519 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: a USB two point connection, you know it can take 520 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: a long time. So this dramatically reduced the amount of 521 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: time it takes to move large amounts of information around. 522 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: The USB three point protocol helps alleviate that bottleneck that 523 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: tends to occur at the bus level, though you're still 524 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,600 Speaker 1: dependent upon other factors like your computer's processor and the 525 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: hard drives writing capabilities. Again, it really comes down to 526 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: what is the slowest element of the collection of of technology. 527 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: Whatever the slowest element is, that's your limiting factor. So 528 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 1: really USB improvements are to make sure that the bus stays, 529 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,480 Speaker 1: you know, keeps up to speed with things like microprocessors 530 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: and hard drives, that sort of thing. Now, USB three 531 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: point one I mentioned earlier is the most recent version 532 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: as of the recording of this podcast, it up to 533 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: the max data transfer rate again, this time up to 534 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: ten gigabits per second. At least that's the theoretical top 535 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: and it debuted in July two thirteen. Now in August, 536 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: the USB dash i F published the specification for USB 537 00:31:55,840 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: Type C connector systems. That's the reversible USBC plug. You 538 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: can find some smartphones and high end laptops and other 539 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: devices right now. Um, it's a little different from the 540 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: previous USB connectors. Also, people tend to conflate the two. 541 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: They tend to think of USBC and USB three point 542 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: one being the same thing. They are not. I mentioned 543 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: earlier that the USB it really refers to a protocol, 544 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: not a specific technology. Same thing with USB three point 545 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: one is a technology protocol, a set of standards rules, 546 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: if you will. USBC is a physical technology that follows 547 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: those rules, and as a cable and sports system, it's 548 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: not in itself three point one. All right, let's take 549 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: another quick break to thank our sponsor before I dive 550 00:32:50,560 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: into the madness that is USB connectors. All right, we're 551 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: gonna talk about the different ends of USB cables, which 552 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: for a lot of people end up being the thing 553 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: that confuses them or infuriates them the most, especially if 554 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,680 Speaker 1: you're looking for a very specific USB cable for a 555 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: very specific device and all you're finding are many and 556 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:23,360 Speaker 1: micro cables. I've been there, I live that life. It hurts. 557 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:25,960 Speaker 1: It's a bit of a puzzler. So let's start with 558 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: USB two point oh and lower first, because all of 559 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: those cables have similar connectors. Uh, a USB one point 560 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: one cable is not gonna pull data the way USB 561 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,400 Speaker 1: two point oh can, but they do have the same 562 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: sort of end connectors that plug into ports. So we 563 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 1: begin with type A plugs and sockets. This is the 564 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: big standard, the one that you would find on a 565 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: typical computer pre USB three point oh days. So uh, 566 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: it's your typical USB port. The latest models have moved on, 567 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,040 Speaker 1: but if you probably are familiar with or oh in 568 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: a computer that has you're just standard USB two point 569 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: oh style ports. These are the ones that have that 570 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,800 Speaker 1: big wide plug for the cables, and the have a 571 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,680 Speaker 1: little like holes on one side of them that when 572 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: it slips into your computer, it's supposed to latch on 573 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,720 Speaker 1: a little bit so that the cord doesn't easily pop 574 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: out again. But it's also tends to be the plug 575 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,520 Speaker 1: that everyone seems to try and plug in upside down 576 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: first before they flip it around and get it the 577 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: right way. At least that's my experience. I've worked with 578 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: USB chords for years, and to this day, I will 579 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,800 Speaker 1: try and plug it in the wrong way first, probably 580 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: because I'm not really paying attention. If I just paid 581 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:40,560 Speaker 1: attention and look for the little holes I could, I 582 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,239 Speaker 1: could align it properly. But more often than not, I'm 583 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 1: just jabbing away at a computer. You know, an expensive 584 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:51,280 Speaker 1: piece of property, like a caveman with a spear jab 585 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: in a mammoth. That's me when you boil it down 586 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: to its most basic level with computers. I'm not a 587 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:04,440 Speaker 1: proud man. I'm just a guy anyway. That's one of 588 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,640 Speaker 1: the features of these plugs. There's only one way you 589 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:11,240 Speaker 1: can plug them in correctly. You cannot reverse them. Type 590 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,360 Speaker 1: B plugs and sockets have a different shape than Type A. 591 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 1: These are typically the the side of a cable that 592 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:23,279 Speaker 1: you would plug into another device, like a camera or 593 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 1: a microphone in some cases, USB microphones, printers, scanners, that 594 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: kind of thing. Type B socket is an upstream socket, 595 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: so that means it has to be on a peripheral 596 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: because Remember a computer send information downstream. Peripheral send information upstream. 597 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,280 Speaker 1: So your typical USB cable has a Type A connector 598 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: on one end and a tight BE connector on the 599 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: other end. I remember my old blue Snowball mic has 600 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:52,920 Speaker 1: a standard Type B port on it. In fact, I've 601 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,279 Speaker 1: got a blue Snowball mic right in front of me 602 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:59,359 Speaker 1: right now. I'm not using it. It was used for 603 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: a conversation I had online just before I recorded this podcast, 604 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,320 Speaker 1: And sure enough, it's got a tight B USB connector 605 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:13,000 Speaker 1: that square ish connector on the back of it. Now, 606 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: let's make things a little more complicated. You also have 607 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:19,839 Speaker 1: micro style connectors for USB Type A and Type B connections. 608 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:24,320 Speaker 1: Micro ports can be found on digital cameras, cell phones, smartphones, 609 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,280 Speaker 1: GPS units, and stuff like that. Then there are USB 610 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:33,879 Speaker 1: mini connectors, which are actually larger than the micro connectors, 611 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,880 Speaker 1: and those can also be found in other types of 612 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 1: cell phones, digital cameras, and that kind of stuff. So 613 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 1: you're your your mini connectors are slightly taller if you 614 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:45,759 Speaker 1: were looking at them from the end, Like if you 615 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: ever had a cellphone that had a mini connector, it's 616 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 1: got the ports are are slightly taller, and the plugs 617 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:56,240 Speaker 1: are slightly taller, and they do not fit into the 618 00:36:56,239 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: the micro connector reports those are thinner, So a mini 619 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: cable will not plug into a micro port, and a 620 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,439 Speaker 1: micro cable will not plug into a miniport. And that's 621 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,960 Speaker 1: the biggest problem I have. Is because well, now it's 622 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,279 Speaker 1: not the biggest problem I have, because I've got a 623 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: smartphone that has a USBC cable, adding a whole new 624 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 1: plethora of options for me to mess things up. But 625 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:24,360 Speaker 1: back in the day, it was the biggest problem I 626 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,840 Speaker 1: had because I used to have a cell phone that 627 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: used the one type of plug, and then I got 628 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:32,760 Speaker 1: a cell phone that used a different type of plug, 629 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:36,760 Speaker 1: which means I've got all these different cables, and invariably, 630 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,520 Speaker 1: when I was going to charge my phone or I 631 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,200 Speaker 1: needed to grab a cable for travel that was more common, 632 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,240 Speaker 1: I would end up grabbing the wrong type of cable. 633 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 1: You figure i'd have a fifty fifty shot, or at least, 634 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,400 Speaker 1: you know, I would have more of the current type 635 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,560 Speaker 1: of cable than I did the old type of cable. 636 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:57,799 Speaker 1: But for whatever reason, I just had that amazing luck 637 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: to grab the wrong one every single time. And there 638 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: are also a few more proprietary approaches to USB connectors, 639 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: particularly in the world of cameras, so certain brands like 640 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: Kodak or Sony where using connectors that don't plug into 641 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,879 Speaker 1: anything else. The camera has a very specific port on it, 642 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,000 Speaker 1: and the plug that you have to use is related 643 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,960 Speaker 1: to that camera, or at least that brand of cameras. 644 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:28,200 Speaker 1: This is also incredibly frustrating for people who own lots 645 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:30,400 Speaker 1: of technology because if it were a mini or a 646 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,640 Speaker 1: micro that's a standard, if you lost the cable, it's 647 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 1: easy to replace. If you lose a proprietary cable, you 648 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:40,479 Speaker 1: have to go back to the manufacturer typically and order 649 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:43,879 Speaker 1: an expensive replacement. Keep in mind, they were still using 650 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:48,040 Speaker 1: the USB standard. The underlying technology was the exact same 651 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,279 Speaker 1: stuff in all the other USB cables. It's just the 652 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: plug that was different and the ports on the device. 653 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:59,160 Speaker 1: It was a design choice that ends up forcing you 654 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:05,120 Speaker 1: to buy more or stuff within a particular manufacturers collection 655 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: of products. I might be a little jaded on that, 656 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:14,840 Speaker 1: largely because I kept losing chords to digital cameras and 657 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,480 Speaker 1: it was expensive to replace them. So these days I 658 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,400 Speaker 1: just used my phone. It makes me so much happier 659 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:26,239 Speaker 1: not having to carry an extra thing around anyway, the 660 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,520 Speaker 1: whole thing sort of defeats the purpose of the universal 661 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:30,400 Speaker 1: connector if you ask me, but it does create that 662 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,360 Speaker 1: market for chords and cables, and only those companies or 663 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:39,000 Speaker 1: a designated companies that license the technology can actually sell 664 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,560 Speaker 1: those products, so it's a moneymaker. Now. Next, you've got 665 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:45,719 Speaker 1: USB three point oh Type A and Type B connectors, 666 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,080 Speaker 1: plus the USB three point oh MicroB connectors. The basic 667 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,160 Speaker 1: Type A connector looks very similar to a USB two 668 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: point oh Type A, except instead of it being having 669 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: white plastic in it, it's got blue plastic in it. 670 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,320 Speaker 1: So the lou alert to that you're using a USB 671 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,400 Speaker 1: three point oh cable or if you're looking at the 672 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:09,360 Speaker 1: port then it's a port. Uh, So they look a 673 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,960 Speaker 1: lot like USB two point oh. It is backwards compatible 674 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,640 Speaker 1: with USB two point oh ports, so you can plug 675 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 1: the USB three point oh regular type A plug into 676 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:21,360 Speaker 1: a USB two point o port, but it's gonna be 677 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,640 Speaker 1: going at that USB two point of speed. Rather than 678 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:28,440 Speaker 1: round pins which earlier USB connectors had inside them, the 679 00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:31,560 Speaker 1: USB three point oh Type A has flat connectors which 680 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,000 Speaker 1: stand up to a lot of attachment and removals, so 681 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,800 Speaker 1: you don't wear out the port or cables quite as quickly. 682 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,719 Speaker 1: That's kind of nice. The type B USB three point 683 00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:42,919 Speaker 1: oh cables look a little different than their two point 684 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,799 Speaker 1: oh counterparts, so you cannot plug a USB three point 685 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:50,479 Speaker 1: oh type B cable into a USB two point oh 686 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 1: type B port, and that's because the connectors for USB 687 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:58,279 Speaker 1: three point oh have more pens, so they're wider, like 688 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:02,280 Speaker 1: they're more wide then the USB two point oh kind 689 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,840 Speaker 1: It actually looks like they almost have two plugs merged 690 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:08,680 Speaker 1: together if you take a look at them, and the 691 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:11,800 Speaker 1: parts look a little funky too, because they have this 692 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,360 Speaker 1: this structure where it looks like it's two ports that 693 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 1: have been merged together. It's because these connectors have more 694 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,520 Speaker 1: pins in them, so you can't just use a regular 695 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:24,720 Speaker 1: two point oh cable with these devices. The micro connector 696 00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:27,319 Speaker 1: for a USB three point oh also looks different from 697 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,799 Speaker 1: the two point oh counterpart, so again you just have 698 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,720 Speaker 1: to deal with that. It's one of those things where 699 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,520 Speaker 1: the trade off to the new technology is that you 700 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,200 Speaker 1: have to get rid of some of the old stuff 701 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:43,520 Speaker 1: that had been universal before. And finally, you have the 702 00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:47,200 Speaker 1: USB Type C connector, so some cables have a Type 703 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,759 Speaker 1: C connector at both ends, so you've got to If 704 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: you have a USB C cable, it may have a 705 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:56,120 Speaker 1: C plug on both ends of it instead of having 706 00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:59,040 Speaker 1: a Type A er, Type B or whatever both ends 707 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,360 Speaker 1: or Type C. That works just fine. If you have 708 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,680 Speaker 1: been to have a laptop that has a C type 709 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,399 Speaker 1: port in it and you have a smartphone that has 710 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:10,120 Speaker 1: a C type port in it, then you can plug 711 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,840 Speaker 1: the two together no problem. Or if you've got a 712 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:16,360 Speaker 1: power adapter that is a plug and it has a 713 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:20,280 Speaker 1: C type port, then you can use as a charging cable. 714 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,160 Speaker 1: That's what my phone's charging cable is. It's actually a 715 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,960 Speaker 1: USBC cable on both ends plugs into an adapter. You 716 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,359 Speaker 1: plug that into a wall, You plug the other end 717 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,839 Speaker 1: into your smartphone, and you charge away, and you get 718 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:36,040 Speaker 1: to do it at a really fast speed. Recharges very quickly. 719 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,880 Speaker 1: That way, much faster than if I were to plug 720 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,840 Speaker 1: a USB two point oh to USBC cable into my laptop, 721 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 1: because the laptop just can't transfer power at that same rate. 722 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:54,160 Speaker 1: So yeah, if I try to plug my phone into 723 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:57,279 Speaker 1: my computer, it does charge, but much more slowly than 724 00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:01,840 Speaker 1: I would if I use the charger the charging cable. Uh, 725 00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:04,600 Speaker 1: the cables will carry data at a lower transfer rate 726 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,680 Speaker 1: if you have them plugged into that two point oh 727 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:12,240 Speaker 1: style port. Depending upon the type of connectors used. Obviously, 728 00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:16,480 Speaker 1: if it's a C type plug, you would need an adapter, 729 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 1: or you would need a computer that had C type ports. 730 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:22,600 Speaker 1: You can't plug a C type port into a USB 731 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:27,760 Speaker 1: two point oh port, it won't work. Uh. They also 732 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,160 Speaker 1: have a chip incorporated in them, the USBC cables do. 733 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,719 Speaker 1: There's at the end of the C cable on that 734 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:43,160 Speaker 1: C connector there's actually a microchip incorporated into the wire 735 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:45,760 Speaker 1: or the cable really, because the cable is a collection 736 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,560 Speaker 1: of wires. It has an I D function based on 737 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,200 Speaker 1: vendor defined messages also known as v d m s, 738 00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 1: and also a configuration data channel. So in plane speak, 739 00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:59,000 Speaker 1: the chip gives devices more information about what they're connected to. 740 00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: And that's a lot about connectors. Let's talk about wires. 741 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:05,279 Speaker 1: What would the USB cable look like if you have 742 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,319 Speaker 1: split one open, Well, it depends upon which version of 743 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:12,360 Speaker 1: USB you're working with. So if you're working with USB 744 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,520 Speaker 1: two point oh or earlier, if you split the cable open, 745 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:19,960 Speaker 1: you would find four wires inside of it, and normally 746 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:25,040 Speaker 1: those wires are color coded red, white, green, and black. 747 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:29,920 Speaker 1: The red and black wires are power lines. The red 748 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:32,440 Speaker 1: line carries plus five vaults in the black line acts 749 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: as a ground wire. The white and green wires are 750 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:39,560 Speaker 1: the ones that carry data signals using non return to 751 00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:44,520 Speaker 1: zero inverted or in r z I encoding. White is 752 00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:48,279 Speaker 1: technically called D minus and green is technically D plus, 753 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:52,160 Speaker 1: and the D stands for data. A USB three point 754 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:54,600 Speaker 1: O cable has some additional wires to contend with. You've 755 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:57,520 Speaker 1: still got the four that we just mentioned, and they 756 00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:00,200 Speaker 1: still perform the same functions and USB three you know, 757 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,000 Speaker 1: this is what allows USB three point to be backwards 758 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:08,759 Speaker 1: compatible with older USB protocols. But then you also have blue, yellow, purple, 759 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:12,080 Speaker 1: and orange wires. The blue and yellow are paired together 760 00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:15,440 Speaker 1: as a superspeed transmitter pair of wires, and the purple 761 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:20,120 Speaker 1: and orange act as a superspeed receiver pair of wires. 762 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:24,399 Speaker 1: So these are those dedicated pathways for high speed data transfers. 763 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:28,000 Speaker 1: But Jonathan, I hear you ask, what about USBC cables. 764 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:34,359 Speaker 1: Do they have any extra wires pipe down get to you? Yeah, 765 00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:38,280 Speaker 1: they got them. They got a lot. USBC has eighteen wires. 766 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,120 Speaker 1: It's probably easiest to go through these by the connectors 767 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:47,400 Speaker 1: they correspond with. So Connectors one and sixteen are ground wires, 768 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:51,440 Speaker 1: so they're plated in ten T I N. They are 769 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:56,440 Speaker 1: ground for return power. Connectors to and seventeen are power 770 00:45:56,520 --> 00:45:59,960 Speaker 1: cables similar to what you'd find in earlier USB specification, 771 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,640 Speaker 1: and they are red. Then you've got a yellow wire 772 00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:06,759 Speaker 1: at connector eighteen. This one is a power wire for 773 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:11,480 Speaker 1: active cables designated as v COAN, whereas the other wires 774 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:18,200 Speaker 1: are v bus wires. Alright, so that's one, sixteen, two, seventeen, 775 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:22,200 Speaker 1: and eighteen. Let's go back down. Connector three is blue 776 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:25,839 Speaker 1: and it's a configuration channel. Four is white and it's 777 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,239 Speaker 1: the D plus channel. Five is green. It's the D 778 00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:32,640 Speaker 1: minus channel. That's just like USB two point oh. Connectors 779 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,840 Speaker 1: six and seven are yellow and brown and correspond with 780 00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,040 Speaker 1: the first of four shielded differential pairs for high speed 781 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:41,880 Speaker 1: data transfers. Eight and nine are the next two, and 782 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:45,239 Speaker 1: they are green and orange. Then you've got ten and 783 00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:48,000 Speaker 1: eleven those are white and black, and then you've got 784 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:52,040 Speaker 1: twelve and thirteen those are red and blue. Connectors fourteen 785 00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:55,440 Speaker 1: and fifteen are red and black, and our sideband wires, 786 00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:57,960 Speaker 1: and that's all of them. That's all the wires that 787 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,920 Speaker 1: are in the USBC cable. Now, the important thing to 788 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:04,680 Speaker 1: remember is that these wires facilitate powering a peripheral and 789 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,279 Speaker 1: allowing high speed data transfers, and it only works if 790 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:12,960 Speaker 1: you're using the right types of ports, cables and peripherals. 791 00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:16,359 Speaker 1: So you've got to make sure all of these things 792 00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:20,560 Speaker 1: are at the highest or the most recent version of 793 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:24,960 Speaker 1: USB in order to take advantage of those capabilities. Again, 794 00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:28,120 Speaker 1: you only go as fast as the slowest component on 795 00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:32,520 Speaker 1: the chain, and that's the skinny on USB. Ultimately, it's 796 00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:36,040 Speaker 1: a story about several powerful entities in the computer industry 797 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:39,919 Speaker 1: getting together to streamline what had become an increasingly frustrating 798 00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:43,960 Speaker 1: consumer experience. I think the solution is actually pretty elegant. 799 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:47,279 Speaker 1: It's complex, and it's a little difficult to understand. I 800 00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:49,640 Speaker 1: didn't dive too deeply into the tech of it because 801 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:52,960 Speaker 1: to do so would have taken a lot more time 802 00:47:53,239 --> 00:47:57,520 Speaker 1: to explain all the different fundamental principles. I will say 803 00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:01,960 Speaker 1: that the switch to USBC has irritated some people because 804 00:48:02,040 --> 00:48:05,359 Speaker 1: it's creating new connectors, so it means that you can't 805 00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:08,200 Speaker 1: use your old cables for a lot of this stuff. 806 00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:10,880 Speaker 1: As part of the growing pains of technology. If we 807 00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:14,160 Speaker 1: rely upon existing designs, we won't be able to enjoy 808 00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:18,000 Speaker 1: those faster speeds or other features like power management and 809 00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:21,520 Speaker 1: other improvements over time. I know the one I got 810 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,840 Speaker 1: my latest smartphone that uses that USBC connector. I was 811 00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:27,399 Speaker 1: a little irritated at first. I knew that I had 812 00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,040 Speaker 1: to buy new USBC cables if I was going to 813 00:48:30,120 --> 00:48:33,040 Speaker 1: go traveling. I couldn't just grab one of the billion 814 00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:36,399 Speaker 1: USB minis or micro's that I had because they wouldn't work. 815 00:48:37,239 --> 00:48:38,800 Speaker 1: And I still don't have a computer that has a 816 00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:42,920 Speaker 1: USB C ports, so I only have that one power 817 00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:45,640 Speaker 1: adapter that I can use. I don't have anything else 818 00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:48,919 Speaker 1: that uses USBC right now, so I really only enjoy 819 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:51,880 Speaker 1: those faster speeds when I plug in the power adapter. 820 00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:56,279 Speaker 1: But assuming I upgrade to current technological standards, I'm sure 821 00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:59,200 Speaker 1: I'll be pleased as punch with the USBC, which will 822 00:48:59,239 --> 00:49:02,400 Speaker 1: probably happen right around the time someone debuts USB D 823 00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:06,160 Speaker 1: or whatever comes next, and I'll still be behind the times, 824 00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:10,520 Speaker 1: and so it goes well. That wraps up this episode. 825 00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:13,640 Speaker 1: If you guys have any suggestions about topics I should 826 00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:16,440 Speaker 1: cover on this show, or guests you'd like me to 827 00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:19,040 Speaker 1: book for the show, let me know send me a message. 828 00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:21,880 Speaker 1: My email address is tech stuff at how stuff works 829 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:23,799 Speaker 1: dot com, and the handle I use on Twitter and 830 00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:26,279 Speaker 1: Facebook for the show is tech stuff H s W. 831 00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:35,799 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you guys again really soon. For more 832 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:38,120 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, is it how 833 00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:48,880 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com