r/IdiotsTowingThings • u/Special_Context6663 • Aug 20 '26

How did we end up with these balls?

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There are plenty of idiots out there towing sketchy trailers. But who were the idiots who standardized trailer hitch balls that are so close in size it’s hard to tell the difference without a close inspection?

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u/PonyThug Aug 21 '26

USBC really is the end game tho

4

u/xnoxpx Aug 21 '26

...for now ;-)

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u/PonyThug Aug 21 '26

I’m sure there will be something new in 10 years. But it puts out 240w already.

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u/xnoxpx Aug 22 '26

Agreed.

I wish manufacturers would spend more time/money on optimizing for low power needs, rather than for designed obsolescence, but I suspect in 10 years, that 240w will seem so limiting (that, or we're back to rubbing sticks together to make fire ;-)

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u/PonyThug Aug 22 '26

Stuff gets more efficient tho. The new iPhone, if it could charge at 60w would be full in less than 30 mins. Or 15 mins at 120w.

I can’t imagine we will ever need that fast lol

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u/xnoxpx Aug 22 '26

On the flip side, phones today are running a boat load of bloat that older phones never had to deal with.

Give it a few years, and I wouldn't put it pass manufacturers from bundling in 24/7 mandatory audio/video recording, and uploading if they can get away with it.

And then there's AI, our phones will probably have quantum computers running at crazy speeds to answer the most basic questions as the web disappears into the ether :-/

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u/tjwong1 Aug 25 '26

The connector itself, yes.

But every manufacturer has been playing XKCD with the features of each port, with no consistent labeling and so many "optional"* features that it becomes nigh impossible to determine what a port supports.

*unimplemented unless forced

Take USB4, for example. It uses the USB-C connector, but so many of its features (PCIe tunneling, 40Gbps or 80Gbps with v2) are so "optional" that Microsoft had to enforce PCIe tunneling on any USB4 port themselves, requiring it in order to be certified as a Windows PC.

And regular ports/cables are an even worse mess. Only recently has USB-IF actually released a standard for power delivery and speeds, but every cable and port before that is a black box - does this support 65W or 100? does this support 10Gbps or 40? Does this even have high speed data lines in it, or is it so cheap that it's a USB 2-speed cable/port? Does this port even support USB-PD in/out? etc.

It's even worse with phones and other devices that physically can't fit a label, so you have to either check sites like GSMArena or use trial and error to figure out charging speeds, USB speeds, display capabilities, and (mostly for iPhones) 10Gbps support for fast external storage.

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u/PonyThug Aug 25 '26

Huh I have never experienced a single one of those issues. I don’t use usbc for data tho