# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 7733
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7733 "2026-07-29T16:06:08Z")
While the USB hijack is still in flight we all have an opportunity to learn a bit more about it. Here’s an OP of mine about a problem I recently had with various flavors of USB talking to one another that I had no clue about. > [@USB-A to USB-C Mysteries](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-a-to-usb-c-mysteries/1022453): > > I have an external accessory for my PC tablet. It connects to the PC via USB for both power & data. It happens to be an RFID reader/writer, which means very low power draw. But the device type in and of itself probably isn’t significant. The design is a few years old. Its body has a female USB-C connector and it came packaged with a male USB-C to male USB-A cord. So plug the C end into the device, then when you plug the A end into the typical female A connector on a PC, the PC recognizes the d… Along the way, @Reply gives an absolute masterclass on the history. And, perhaps more usefully here in 2026, a masterclass on how the USB-C _connector_ is now sorta universalizing a whole host of different underlying protocols. A bunch of other folks added even more knowledge and perspective. With the completely predictable result that nowadays just because the connectors on _these_ two devices and _this_ wire mate, it is no longer true that the devices will cooperate enthusiastically. Or at all. It’s usually true, but not always. We’ve come full circle from idiot-proof wires and sockets that _always_ work to not-so-idiot proof wires and sockets that look alike even to experts but might or might not work together. Progress! 🤪 --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532)._