Then you spend a lot of money on a good technique and they still say “no”, that’s cool. This is why innovations will again come from companies outside the European Union, since no one here will waste their R&D budget, and we are always behind.
I see it differently, with different lines, I came to the same conclusion, which is that it is not a real problem.
The first line is that USB-C provides enough space for the foreseeable future. This cable has two functions, data and power.
Data can handle 10 gigabits, but no consumer has anything in the house that runs that fast. Consumer networks are 1 Gigabit and for networks over 10 Gigabits we are at least another 10 years. I think it will be 25 years before 10Gb is not enough.
In terms of power, USB-C is primarily limited by the thickness of the cable. Sending current through such a thin cable is very dangerous and will not change, except for basic penetrations. If we want more power, we need a thicker cable, but the plug doesn’t have to be changed much in the foreseeable future. In addition, our batteries will also have to take some steps to really take advantage of that.
So I don’t see any limitations that will stop us in the next 10-20 years.
Side Street: The network is becoming more and more wireless. Cable is faster but wireless is more convenient, and the latter is clearly gaining ground (whatever we might think about that).
The other line is that this limitation only applies to certain devices and only to the power cord. This limitation does not apply to laptops, PCs, and servers, for example. If a better cable came out than USB-C, it would probably first be applied to a desktop computer that needed and could use such a fast connection. If successful, the new cable can be approved as a successor. There may be a transition period when the new cable has not yet been approved, but there is always the option to give the device 2 cables. This isn’t ideal, but for a device that’s said to be new or progressive, this seems like an acceptable compromise.
Our intakes have been the same for decades and I don’t think we have any limitations on innovation there. Eventually some of the copper pieces must be pressed together. It’s not that complicated. A USB-C cable isn’t much different, compressing the pieces of copper together.
Of course you never know what new breakthroughs or insights the future will bring, but I think it will be a long time before we face the limitations of the current standard. I don’t expect any real hardware innovation at the moment, the physical difference between USB A and USB C isn’t that great at all, and the most important difference is that USB-C is the same. I would expect innovation mainly on the software side and it is still possible.
Finally, Lightning has also been around for 10 years and uses Apple USB-C on other devices, not really an innovation pioneer. At the moment, this area appears to be fully developed.
