It’s hardly surprising that a proprietary cable from a single manufacturer works across all devices, is it?

no it’s not
but that doesn’t make it less useful

That started reading like a crap haiku competition for a bit

Is this the “one” Apple cable to which you refer?

theauthorities – Member 
how can i tell what are “quality” cables?

I’ve got maybe 30 USB cables knocking around from gadgets over the years. Cheap and expensive ones. All do the job and not one has caused issues with charging.

A lot of charging issues are down to the default 500mA current yet device wanting 1 or 2A. All depends what you plug it into.

Connect to a PC and you might only get 500mA or you might get more, but depends on the PC and often the particular port you connect to. And then some PCs or devices will drop to 500mA if the connection is data as well as charge. If you short out the data line it may then draw the full rate. You can get fast charge adapters you stick on the end of the cable which do just that and are fairly cheap.

Plug into a mains powered USB socket and you still may only get 500mA. Either because the socket only delivers that or again because of the data line. This time because some USB charger sockets don’t short out the data on their side so the phone thinks it’s connected to a PC. Again an adapter to short it out sorts the issue. That’s with the kind of sockets/chargers you plug an ordinary USB cable into. A dedicated USB charger brick with cable sticking out of it isn’t a problem, except when you use the wrong one that’s rated for a lower current.

Then you have gadgets that just can’t charge via standard 5V USB, so they do non standard stuff and require a dedicated charger. My Dell Venue tablet charger runs at 5V 2A for ordinary devices but plug the tablet in and it gets 12V 2A – 24W charge, and that’s the only time it will not take days to charge.

Is this the “one” Apple cable to which you refer?

no.
have no old-style devices.

Personally I’m quite glad I don’t need to have a phone thick enough to plug this into

Yet it is with increasing regularity that I now see people with a secondary inch thick battery to charge their ‘phones from.
Rather makes a mockery of their nice slim devices. 😆

Mini USB worked for me, my mobile, camera, playstation et cetera all worked off the same cable.
Much more reliable than the newer shapes and sizes from my experience (work in a pub so always charging customers’ telling bones).

You can get fast charge adapters you stick on the end of the cable which do just that and are fairly cheap.

They also have the effect of making it charge only rather than charge and sync. Handy when you’re charging from somewhere where the source isn’t trusted (PC in an Internet café, for instance).

Portapow do variations of them, and they’d a pretty decent explanation of how / why on their site last time I looked.

USB is a decent albeit argueably not perfect standard

It has a major gaping security floor in it though – the device provides the driver which normally runs with root privilege and no checks. Basically it’s a highly effective method of spreading malware, very handy for infecting air gapped computers….

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/how-omnipotent-hackers-tied-to-the-nsa-hid-for-14-years-and-were-found-at-last/

Hence fast charging data block cables:

Ta-da!

It has a major gaping security floor

Scary!

Ah, you’re referring to the “old-style” devices which came out when micro USB was already a standard for charging devices made by everybody else – since when Apple have changed their standard twice?

I don’t see any issue with the “device” end of USB cables – 3 standards depending on the size of device, with the middle size dying out now micro is becoming ubiquitous (my old camera has a 4th different one which is a pain as I can never find the right cable, but that’s because it is unusual). The problem with USB is with the A connector, which is a particularly rubbish design which could have been hugely improved by making the outside of the connector asymmetric in the same way all the others are.

You can get reversible USB-A cables. Basically the ‘tongue’ bit without the outer shell, and then the connectors duplicated on the other side. (The OnePlus phones come with such a thing, I think.)

The problem with USB is with the A connector, which is a particularly rubbish design which could have been hugely improved by making the outside of the connector asymmetric in the same way all the others are.

I’d say the main problem with USB is precisely the asymmetry, one thing that Apple got right.

And USB type C got right.
The OnePlus 2 and 3 phones are USB-C ? so reversible by design. X or 1 might be micro USB. But it’s only the A connector that has an issue with being the wrong way round every time you try it. The plug has a logo which indicate “up”, but that’s useless when host device mfrs put sockets in random orientations.

I was doing my nut trying to find the USB connector on my 3D printer… ****ing chinese crap, they’ve used some different board and it doesn’t have the USB, pricks!

Had another look at the USB lead- it’s standard on one end, B on the other, I didn’t even know USB B was a thing so I’d ignored the socket thinking it was a network cable or connector for some sensor I wasn’t using 😳

😯

half your problem will be that you’re using cheap cables, you need to replace the contents of your USB cable drawer with these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nordost-Heimdall-USB-Cable-1-0m/dp/B00KSLVZY6

This joke was originally in a cartoon but I can’t remember where and I can’t draw so..

Industry bigwigs gather: “There are 16 different standards, all doing the same thing. This is ridiculous and inefficient. Let’s have an industry wide agreement and establish a universal standard.”

some time later…

There are now 17 different standards.

xkcd

Yep.

https://xkcd.com/927/

One issue with Apple which I’m not sure has been discussed recently boiled my piss. Ive got an 80Mb Ipod classic whose sound gizmo has failed, OK so stuff breaks, it’s about 6 years old, I’ll get a new Touch. I’ve several radios and CD/Radio combos which have docking stations for said classic. New Touch is useless when connecting to these unless you buy their £25 connector which makes the IPod wobble about and looks as though it will break at any time, alternatively pay £35 for a wired one and have the IPod laid down on the radio which is also a bit crap. Any suggestions on this one?

MrNutt – Member 
half your problem will be that you’re using cheap cables, you need to replace the contents of your USB cable drawer with these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nordost-Heimdall-USB-Cable-1-0m/dp/B00KSLVZY6

That’s a bargain. PC World normally sell them for twice the price, insisting you need one even if there’s a cable in the box anyway.

Any suggestions on this one?

Does the iPod have Bluetooth?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-Receiver-Adapter-Speaker-Station-Support/dp/B00OQ1Z87E (and a host of similar devices).