I’ve always been a little annoyed by USB connectors.

I mean, why bother with the larger, ‘standard’ USB connectors when the smaller micro-USB plugs suffice? You standardize connectors across large and small devices and everybody wins because there’s no need for different types of cables and the cornucopia of bloody annoying adapters.

Things are looking up though. It looks like my prayers has been answered with the introduction of the latest iteration of the USB connector, USB-C.

What is USB Type-C

It’s much smaller, about the size of a micro-USB plug (yay!). Like Apple’s Lightning connector, it connects both ways. And, because it’s based on the new USB 3.1 specification, this cable is also much faster and can provide more power than before.

With the USB-C connector slated to start appearing as the de facto connector from sometime 2015, it will cut down on all the clunk and junk, making life easier for everyone while reducing wastage from unwanted cables as well.

You can read more about it in the CNET Article here.

So, Aaron, That Benefit You Were Talking About?

Recently, Apple released the new ‘Macbook’, a svelte, 12″ laptop with 1 major complaint – it only has a single USB-C port.

The 1 port that’s making iHaters everywhere even more obnoxious

It sounds daft, at first, and while I personally agree that there should at least be 2, I believe most people actually don’t understand that 1 USB-C port is all you need. You can charge the laptop while powering and using multiple devices and screens with that 1 port (albeit, with an adapter).

I guess that’s an argument for another time, but if you think back to the latest Macbook, did you notice something else that’s missing?

A proprietary charging port…. and with it, proprietary adapters.

Think about it. If all laptops and tablets start using USB-C as the charging port as well, we’re no longer stuck with using those unwieldy black power brick with thick cables that add annoying weight and bulk.

And not only that. Soon, we will be able to use our own choice of chargers!

Bulky. Heavy. Ugly. Expensive. Good Riddance.

Some of you might argue that we always had a choice of 3rd party laptop chargers. While that’s true, most people still to stick to getting replacement parts from the original manufacturers, you know, just in case something went wrong. USB chargers, on the other hand, aren’t saddled with this psychological burden; Most are willing to risk charging their thousand dollar phones with cheap USB wall chargers.

Which is good news for us of course, because, on top of the usual cheap selections, we’ll soon have a large choice of affordable yet functionally and aesthetically well-designed USB chargers that can not only be used to charge laptops, but also all the other peripherals we use.

1 cable AND 1 charger, of our choice, for all devices.

Ain’t that cool?

What took them so long.