{"id":6261,"date":"2014-08-18T12:21:06","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T16:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=6261"},"modified":"2014-08-18T12:21:06","modified_gmt":"2014-08-18T16:21:06","slug":"a-brief-history-of-usb-what-it-replaced-and-what-has-failed-to-replace-it-ars-technica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/08\/18\/a-brief-history-of-usb-what-it-replaced-and-what-has-failed-to-replace-it-ars-technica\/","title":{"rendered":"A brief history of USB, what it replaced, and what has failed to replace it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like all technology, USB has evolved over time. Despite being a \u201cUniversal\u201d Serial Bus, in its 18-or-so years on the market it has spawned multiple versions with different connection speeds and many, many types of cables.<\/p>\n

The USB Implementers Forum, the group of companies that oversees the standard, is fully cognizant of this problem, which it wants to solve with a new type of cable dubbed Type-C. This plug is designed to replace USB Type-A and Type-B ports of all sizes on phones, tablets, computers, and other peripherals. Type-C will support the new, faster USB 3.1 spec with room to grow beyond that as bandwidth increases.<\/p>\n

It’s possible that in a few years, USB Type-C will have become the norm, totally replacing the tangled nest of different cables that we all have balled up in our desk drawers. For now, it\u2019s just another excuse to pass around that dog-eared XKCD comic about the proliferation of standards. While we wait to see whether Type-C will save us from cable hell or just contribute to it, let\u2019s take a quick look at where USB has been over the years, what competing standards it has fought against, and what technologies it will continue to grapple with in the future.<\/p>\n

What it replaced<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’ve only been using computers for the last decade or so, it can be easy to take USB for granted. But for all of its ever-shifting specs and connectors, it’s still a huge improvement over what came before.<\/p>\n

If you were using a computer anytime before the dawn of USB in the Pentium and Pentium II eras, connecting pretty much anything to your computer required any one of a large variety of ports. Connecting a mouse? Maybe you need a PS\/2 connector or a serial port. A keyboard? PS\/2 again, maybe the Apple Desktop Bus, or a DIN connector. Printers and scanners generally used big old parallel ports, and you could also use them for external storage if you didn’t want to use SCSI. Connecting gamepads or joysticks to your computer often required a game port, which by the 90s was commonly found on dedicated sound cards (these were the days before audio chips became commonplace on desktop and laptop motherboards).<\/p>\n

You can see the problem. Some of these ports required their own dedicated expansion cards, they all took up a bunch of space, and they were often fussy when it came time to configure or troubleshoot them. By the late 90s, computers were starting to come with a couple of USB ports, usually a couple of them on the back of the system\u2014these were usually USB 1.1 ports, capable of speeds up to 12Mbps (or 1.5Mbps for peripherals like keyboards and mice). Accessory makers didn’t all make the switch to USB right away, but keyboards, mice, printers, and other accessories began to include USB ports and connectors as an option, then as the primary interface.<\/p>\n

Full Story: A brief history of USB, what it replaced, and what has failed to replace it | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like all technology, USB has evolved over time. Despite being a \u201cUniversal\u201d Serial Bus, in its 18-or-so years on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[222,1138],"class_list":["post-6261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-technology","tag-connectors","tag-usb"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-1CZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9328,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/04\/22\/does-usb-cable-quality-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":0},"title":"Does USB Cable Quality Matter?","author":"NCCT","date":"April 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mOemja7Ybu8 Leo Laporte takes a call from Alan in West LA who wants to know if the quality of USB charging cables makes any difference for smartphones.","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/mOemja7Ybu8\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9655,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2021\/03\/09\/fuquay-varina-and-holly-springs-computer-repair\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":1},"title":"Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs Computer Repair","author":"NCCT","date":"March 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our blog. 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You can buy iPhones on eBay with TikTok installed on them as TikTok is still not available for download on the App Store. And on January 27th, 2010, Steve Jobs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Xwqi58VczQ4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9343,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/05\/27\/this-week-in-tech-668-how-many-cups-in-a-stone\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":5},"title":"This Week in Tech 668: How Many Cups in a Stone?","author":"NCCT","date":"May 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/i1oqaFyVcQ0 --The FBI wants you to reboot your router right now. FBI agents have gained control of a huge Russian botnet. 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