On 11/09/2015 15:33, nospam wrote:
In article , Me
wrote:

21st century problems...
Connector problems that annoy the crap out of me date back to the 19th
and 20th century - and should have been replaced long ago:

The 19th century 1/4" phono plug, and subsequent 3.5 and 2.5mm miniature
versions. Quick and easy on a telephone switchboard back in the 1800s,
an abomination ever since, especially on mobile devices.

why do you say that? they work just fine. the only issue is when a plug
goes beyond ts/trs, because trrs and especially trrrs are nonstandard.
however, that's a problem with any custom application.

A few issues. One is that most plugs have a straight barrel - though
you can get right-angle plugs, it's not uncommon that these can't be
plugged in to the device. As the plug barrels are as long or longer
than the contact shaft and rigid, they can exert a lot of force if the
cord is pulled sideways, sometimes bending the socket contacts,
sometimes breaking the socket, sometimes breaking the plug shaft.

I seem to have spent a lot of time over the past 10 years replacing
plugs, removing broken plug shafts, replacing sockets and audio i/o
boards in assorted phones/laptops/tablets.

The internal electrical contacts usually use a press-fit to connect to
to the tip/ring/sleeve. The tip and ring are forced sideways by the
spring contact in the socket. Eventually they fail. The sockets fail
too. It's ****-poor design - but it is 150 years old.

With low signal mic cables etc, they're a huge PITA as they are noisy -
the suggested "buy a better quality cable" offers only marginal
improvement. The tip and ring also contact the sleeve connection as
they're plugged/unplugged - which can cause some issues. In pro audio
they're still widely used and a curse, from the crappy 1/4" unbalanced
phono connectors on electric guitar leads / amps, but also 1/4" TRS for
balanced connection - as what became the default alternative (XLR)
despite being infinitely better, is a bit wider - so takes up more space
on mixers etc.



The 20th century 12v auto "cigarette lighter/accessory socket". Surely
car-makers could have agreed on some alternative standard 1/2 century ago.

it was never intended to be an accessory socket. it was designed to
light a cigarette.

however, it turns out that there is 12v waiting to be used for other
stuff, so why not repurpose it.

the only drawback is that it takes up a lot of space and doesn't always
maintain a connection. fortunately, quality adapters avoid that issue.

recent cars have usb jacks and in some cases, ac outlets, but not all
devices run on 5v or 110vac. almost all automotive electronics are 12v.
Well my car is 24v, and all of my "mains powered" devices use 230v, but
that another issue - and one where it's a damned shame there weren't
international standards.

The 20th century "coaxial/barrel" DC power connector, usually on
wall-wart power supply/charger. Not only comes in a zillion different
sizes of external barrel diameter and internal hole size, but to top it
off, adapters with the same voltage and identical plug size can come
with reversed polarity.

polarity can be a problem if the device is improperly designed. the
main issue is overvoltage or using an adapter that outputs ac rather
than dc (the reverse rarely will cause a problem).

a well designed device protects against using the wrong adapter but
most products don't and simply blame the user for ****ing up.

It's remarkable how many devices don't have reverse polarity protection,
despite the fact that the diodes needed can be bought for a few cents each.