People seem to forget how easily phone cords went bad. We had to jiggle them or hold them at weird angles to keep talking.
Why?
Submitted 3 weeks ago by cm0002@toast.ooo to memes@sopuli.xyz
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/93786c42-0d84-4fa7-83dd-7988c19e6425.jpeg
Comments
Pratai@piefed.ca 3 weeks ago
VAK@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t remember that at all… Was it before 90s?
Pratai@piefed.ca 3 weeks ago
I don’t think many of those types of phones were made/used in the 90’s.
Atropos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Well, think of the data transfer rates. One carries voice, which can be in the kb/s
A lightning cable can carry a few gb/s.
All this extra data weights down the cable, causing it to fail sooner.
Randelung@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Thanks, Cave Johnson.
lemmy_get_my_coat@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
He’ll get the nerds in the lab to cook something up.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Calvin’s Dad Explanation Award
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You can buy a coiled USB-C cable, I have a couple, they’re pretty sweet
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The idea of a spring plus the poor retention of USB-C just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. Seems like these would just be a lot of cable coiled up to make a short cable.
TheBrideWoreCrimson@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
Finally a counter-example to enshittification.
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Wouldn’t they still fray near the end?
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I like guitar cables that coil like this, they don’t get tangled easily
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Planned obsolescence is one of the cornerstones of our economic order.
kreskin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m in tech, I can answer this for OP (on apple’s behalf):
Because fuck you, thats why.
y0kai@anarchist.nexus 3 weeks ago
must be an apple thing lol i have never had this happen
Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 3 weeks ago
Yeah, USB cables that became defective for me either had a damaged plug in micro-usb times or they had internal breaks after intense and frankly pretty rough use.
sit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Which brands do you say are longlasting?
y0kai@anarchist.nexus 3 weeks ago
idk basically any USB cable. It’s rare that they fail for me in general, though I have a couple that have given out, and I’ve seen this happen to other people, but I’ve never had it happen to me.
Perhaps anecdotal, but I try to avoid unplugging by pulling the wire whenever possible and I also try not to bend it near the connector if I’m using it while charging.
MBech@feddit.dk 3 weeks ago
I’ve had it happen with a few Lenovo laptop chargers. Razer mice though, were especially bad at this 10 years ago. Haven’t owned a Razer product since then though, but I’d go through 2 cables per year because of this. Haven’t lost a single cable singe changing to other brands though.
Murse@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
I think around 2016 is when Razer really went down the toilet. There was a time when they built good quality hardware, but they’re just enshittified garbage with a flashy hue cycle now.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Man, we had some dell WSD19 docks that were pushing like 90 or 120w through USB-C and those things would rarely last more than a year.
webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
FYI:
Greenpeace pressured apple to stop using PVC in their plastics around 2007
Apple realised they could gain PR while making more money by having customers needing to rebuy new cables.
Jiral@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You don’t need PVC to create durable cabling.
webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
And give up the opportunity to get applause for planned obedience? That is not how you capitalism.
edinbruh@feddit.it 3 weeks ago
Whats the matter with PVC specifically?
webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
Supposedly greenpeace calls it “the poison plastic” and “the most enviromentally damaging plastic”
Gonna have to ask them for their scientific sources.
Personally i think plastics are fine if the product is actually durable. I take good care of my things. My 15 year old ipad mini is practically mint and if it wasnt for “making it more enviromental” i would still be using its original cable also.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Can’t burn or recycle it without releasing chlorine
garbagebagel@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I actually haven’t had a cable do this since I stopped buying apple cables. I usually will buy just whatever brand I find and they might stop working eventually, but rarely do they fray like those iPod ones used to.
Alwaysnownevernotme@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Better yet don’t buy apple products at all.
VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s because Apple’s cables are designed for aesthetics first and everything else second.
Axolotl_cpp@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Just like all apple products
lokalhorst@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
But non-Apple cables are not officially supported, right? I think apple can’t guarantee that your iPhone works and charges well with an unlicensed cable. Also I don’t know if the Apple Repair Shop will accept a phone that has been charged with an unlicensed cable. But what do I know, I am an Android user
zeb420@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
As long as they have the MFI certification they are officially supported. I’ve been using a non-MFI cable for a while now and it’s never been a problem, even with getting my battery replaced by Apple.
LodeMike@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Car manufacturer can’t garuntee that the car will drive fine on a road not made by them.
What you said/quoted is a meaningless sentence that just reduces into “bad products are possible to make”
kestrel7_7@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Lmao maybe if you don’t know what you’re talking about you just shouldn’t post it 🥰
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The main thing that kills them is sunlight. Totally disintegrates the cover apple uses on their cables.
pipe01@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Pull on the connector instead of the cable and it’ll last 3x longer
purplemonkeymad@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
While that might be right in some cases, these just had really bad plastic coverings. I had an htc cable made with the same stuff. Without using it just sitting the drawer, it now is cracked all over and the cover is falling apart. Mechanical stress probably would make it break faster, but these cables also just sucked.
starik@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Just from oxidation
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Or grab a wireless charger. Of all the great things about USB-C, that tiny little “tongue” in the socket isn’t one. Wireless charging will get rid of 99% of the wear that port will see.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
Because then they couldn’t sell you a new one for $15 every 3 months.
Polisheocket@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Can confirm, I buy a 3 pack every year
miadidi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I use these on all my cables both ends. This cable is 5 years old and still strong. Costed me 1 rupee per piece. Got a pack of 100 for 100rs (~1 us dollar)
insanemantis@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m just thinking about the fact that they really GOTTA stop making white charger cables
Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I know what I’m gonna buy later.
miadidi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s agnostic. You can pretty much put it on any cable as long it’s not too thick.
isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
What exactly am I looking at here?
miadidi@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
cable strain relief
SethTaylor@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I have Sennheiser HD 280 headphones. They have a telephone cord for a wire. So good. So worth it. Cable still going strong after 6 years. And get this… when it breaks? I can replace it. They make spare parts. Saved me a ton of money in the long run
IamBlank@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Enshitification
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
If you want the actual answer it’s because you can’t. There is very little voltage going through those cables, and there is no data line at all.
If you wanted to recharge your phone through a cable like that it would take about 10 years.
You can get high quality armoured recharge cables, they’re not even all that expensive, you just don’t get them in the box. Apple don’t even give you a charger these days, so is it really all that hard to believe that they would give you the cheapest version of the cable?
Psythik@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Beat me to it. A lot of times, things lasted longer simply because they were less complicated. A phone cord is two wires. A USB-C cable has up to 16, and there is a lot more bandwidth being sent though them. Not to mention all the fancy handshakes that have to be performed in order for all the various standards the cable supports to actually work as intended. Along with high speed data, you’ve got things like ethernet, HDMI/DP, Thunderbolt, etc. all going down a single cable. A phone cord only has to send analog voice. Honestly it’s a miracle to me that USB-C even works at all, let alone semi-reliably.
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Should a single cable really support so many standards and high data rates though? That puts a lot of limitations on what is often just a stupidly overengineered charging cable.
boobookittyfrick@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Forced obsolescence. What better way to make money than cut the cost of making a cable that lasts half as long for twice as much that people need regularly? This is an example baked into the very government as it called for initial light bulbs to only last a certain amount of time so they are replaced more often to “stimulate” the market.
gastroglizzy@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
You own the Apple cable and are responsible for the repairs, Apple sells replacements, so they’re built to die and require replacement quickly.
Back in the day, the phone company owned the phone and was responsible for the repairs, so they were built to last.
dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
Because you want it to fit in a small pocket, not take half the space in your backpack.
brap@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Because I’d rather have the cable die than some super-ruggedised cable with the flexibility of a pencil break the port.
sit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
You can have both…
brap@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Superb, I can break both my phone and the cable at the same time /s
Though tbf I’ve got stock Apple cables which are years old. I don’t get how people do this.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
You unplug and replug the top one more often than the bottom one. It’s not a great comparison.
motruck@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Also there are more thicker wires in usb c.
TeaWithDani@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
My cellphone doesnt even have the audio quality of an old landline…
Malica@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
More shit inside that shouldn’t be bent maybe?
homosapien@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
its braided copper covered in plastic insulation, it’s just that apple cables are garbage
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
My steam deck cables, I could climb mountains with them
SourDragon@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What were those cords even made of? Fucking mithril?
Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Profit
antiR@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s why I like the chinese brands because you need thick cables for their ultra fast charging tech. Although the fast charging are a bit proprietary so you have to find legitimate ones online when they do break.
Mwa@thelemmy.club 2 weeks ago
cheaping out?
altphoto@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Berylium Copper, which holds its shape like a spring more than the usual annealed copper conductor, is probably not used because of berylioses or contact allergies. But, other than being a worse conductor than copper, it would probably be better cool as a coil.
a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If you want to pay for cables, go ahead and pay for cables.
nullspace@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The only time I’ve had a frayed USB cable was from when I’d be rotting in bed on my phone with it plugged in. Cutting that down solved that problem. These days it feels like it’s the connector itself that needs to be meticulously cleaned and cared for because they only work for a few hundred cycles.
ViatorOmnium@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
They can. There are brands selling durable USB-C cables, I think they cost around 20 Euros each.
For Apple stuff, they will make it durable once their customer base stops being a cult.
axh@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
prettybunnys@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
The cables that degraded that way were because they used a more recyclable product.
Their cables are now braided by default.
The “hating apple” or better yet “tech tribalism” in general is the real cult
0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Funny, Apple mainstreamed tech tribalism. Remember when they were so so butthurt when android entered the scene, that their whole cult started calling them poor people’s phone? Their whole schtick was being an expensive status symbol? Suing samsung because their phone was a rectangle? Suing a pear brand logo because theirs was an apple. They had to go so low to green bubble android users to.make them seem like outcasts in group chats for teenagers? Tim Apple’s “Buy your mom an iPhone” because they didn’t want to support RCS?
You can “achsually” spin it however the fuck you want, Apple is THE tech tribalist cult, that other companies fawn over. Not the smart ones, the dumb and loyal ones who buy expensive shit no matter what.
Fuck all Big Tech. They’re only after monopolizing the market for data and profits.
BestBouclettes@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
Yeah you can criticise Apple on many things, but definitely not in build quality and software support. They’re so far ahead of everyone else, it’s not even funny.
EliteCloneMike@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Same goes for Google and the others. They have a tribe or flock or cult. All the tech companies want that or have it to some degree. Though some are more obvious.
DaddleDew@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The problem is that you can’t go just off of the price because there are shitty brands that will sell the crappy one that will break early for 20 Euros to fool people into thinking they’ll last.
0x0@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
7 cultists and counting
Fmstrat@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Exactly. My Aliexpress specials have lasted forever. Buying a “brand” is dumb.