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Mini/Micro USB also suffers from a superposition rule* much like the A connector: whenever you need a mini or micro cable, your drawer will be completely full of the opposite type.

* https://imgur.com/gallery/kYGTLjc




mini usb is basically extinct in my house. But now I’ve got the same conundrum with micro and usb-c. Oh what I wouldn’t give for one connector to rule them all.


There are still new devices being sold with Mini-USB sockets, e.g. the handheld audio recorders by Zoom. (They plug into USB to function as external sound cards.)


I've been using 2-in-1 Micro/USB-C cables found on AliExpress for about a year now and have been giving them out to all my friends as gifts. Haven't heard of any going bad yet. The ones I picked have "leashes" so that the USB-C cap doesn't get lost.


Currently my desktop keyboard, ereader and OP-1 have mini USB. Guess I'll be stuck with it for a long time


My cheap lightning cables are not commutative. If it doesn't work, flip it over and it might work.


I people have been voting this down, but I have seen this very occasionally in the wild. I don't have a good theory; my guess is either some tolerance combined with gunk on a pin or gunk on a bin that is dislodged by removal and re-insertion. But it doesn't happen enough for a good controlled experiment.


I have the same problem with Anker lightning cables, which I don't consider that "cheap", on both an iPhone SE and an iPad air.

The issue persists even after replacing the iPhone lightning port with a brand new one, across two different Anker cables.

I guess I'll be sticking to original Apple cables, still, it's mildly infuriating.


I suspect there is circuitry involved in these cables, and it is either not implemented, poorly implemented or prone to failure.




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