Poll: Charging Electronic Devices

[ken_sylvania]

The dumbest thing about them is the mystery of how first blind stab with a cord is 75% likely to be oriented the wrong way. You might think that there would be a 50/50 chance of getting it right, but no. Most often you hit it backwards the first time. This is probably why so many public USBs are busted. Just another conspiracy by monopolistic tech repair companies.

I maintain that when they bury the guy who designed USB-A form factor, they're going to start to lower his casket into the grave, then pull it back up and turn it end-for-end before they lower it back down the rest of the way.

[temporal1]

The dumbest thing about them is the mystery of how first blind stab with a cord is 75% likely to be oriented the wrong way. You might think that there would be a 50/50 chance of getting it right, but no. Most often you hit it backwards the first time. This is probably why so many public USBs are busted. Just another conspiracy by monopolistic tech repair companies.

I maintain that when they bury the guy who designed USB-A form factor, they're going to start to lower his casket into the grave, then pull it back up and turn it end-for-end before they lower it back down the rest of the way.

diamonds

[Ken]

The dumbest thing about them is the mystery of how first blind stab with a cord is 75% likely to be oriented the wrong way. You might think that there would be a 50/50 chance of getting it right, but no. Most often you hit it backwards the first time. This is probably why so many public USBs are busted. Just another conspiracy by monopolistic tech repair companies.

That’s one reason why the newer USB-C ports are such an improvement. But then everyone complains about them because their old cords don’t fit.

Conspiracies everywhere. They aren’t going to go peacefully. If they can’t charge to replace the plugs, they’ll charge to replace the cords. Follow the money.

The reason we are getting USB-C charging ports on all the new iPhones is because Europe mandated it. The EU has a new law that mandates universal compatibility for chargers which meant that Apple had to abandon its proprietary lightning port if it wanted to keep selling phones in the EU. Rather than have two different versions, one for the US and one for the EU they just switched over to USB-C for all their new phones. they had already done that with iPads several years ago.

[Josh]

I wish we’d kept Lightning and Apple would have just released their patents on it. It’s a better connector than USB-C; the fuse is in the connector, not the port, and it’s designed so that the connector fails before the port does. It’s also more impervious to liquid damage or infiltration.

[Ken]

I wish we’d kept Lightning and Apple would have just released their patents on it. It’s a better connector than USB-C; the fuse is in the connector, not the port, and it’s designed so that the connector fails before the port does. It’s also more impervious to liquid damage or infiltration.

They are probably nicer for phones, that is true.

But I don't think lightning ports can carry enough current to charge things like laptops or large tablets. That is why Apple never used lightning ports for their laptops and larger tablets.

If you want one charger that can charge your phone, tablet, and laptop then lighting ports are not going to work.

[Josh]

I wish we’d kept Lightning and Apple would have just released their patents on it. It’s a better connector than USB-C; the fuse is in the connector, not the port, and it’s designed so that the connector fails before the port does. It’s also more impervious to liquid damage or infiltration.

They are probably nicer for phones, that is true.

But I don't think lightning ports can carry enough current to charge things like laptops or large tablets. That is why Apple never used lightning ports for their laptops and larger tablets.

If you want one charger that can charge your phone, tablet, and laptop then lighting ports are not going to work.

If you want high current, then MagSafe 3 (which is also encumbered by patents) is better. Apple laptops can charge with either USB-C or MagSafe 3.

MagSafe means there is no stress at all on the port or connector if it is suddenly ripped out, such as by somebody tripping over the cord. It can also deliver 140W - 240W provided you have Apple’s proprietary USB-C charger, which has an extension to USB PD 3.1 allowing it to past 100W.

Lightning can deliver up to 2.4A, USB-C 5A (100W at 20V); the only things that need more than 50W or so would be higher end laptops.

[Bootstrap]

Here's a claim I found on the Internet. Is it true?

Wired charging generates less heat at the same charging level (IE, 15W vs 15W). This is why most phones, iPhone included, charge faster when wired.

[Josh]

Here's a claim I found on the Internet. Is it true?

Wired charging generates less heat at the same charging level (IE, 15W vs 15W). This is why most phones, iPhone included, charge faster when wired.

As far as I know, it is. Wireless charging isn’t very efficient as induction via magnetic coils spaced with fairly wide margins has quite a bit of losses versus a direct connection.

I used to have a wireless charger I used in the car, and the phone would get too hot to wirelessly charge and run a GPS at the same time. (I’d have to shove the phone into the A/C vent to make it functional again.)

There are some efforts to make wireless induction power transfer more efficient - nothing standard yet though. Apple has been pushing for wireless charging for a while but has yet to overcome this problem.

[trimthicket]

I charge my phone to around 95% the next day at work. I also don't let it get below 40%. This seems to keep my phone battery happy longer than when I would charge it 100% each night.