UltraTek Flipper USB plug can't be stopped
By Paul Miller 
posted July 14th 2010 11:31AM
posted July 14th 2010 11:31AM
posted July 14th 2010 11:31AM
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@fourthletter seriously, i feel like nobody in here knows that there is a standard way to mount USB jacks, so you only need to look at the plug to make sure it'll go in the right way. for horizontal jacks, make sure the connections in the plug are facing up, because the jack will have it's connections facing down 99% of the time (as in the picture above). for vertical jacks it's standard to mount the jack with it's connections facing left, so make sure the plug's connections are facing right when you go to put it in. makes it easy, even when you can't see the jack.
@maveric101
That's useful information, but I think the point is that even that should be unnecessary. You should be able to easily figure out the orientation of a plug based on feel alone. You shouldn't have to look inside and see where the pins are located. That's a fail.
About damn time.
Do you ppl have issue with wall plugs too?
@A25i I doubt it because its really not smart to blindly plug in a power cord. but if you must, you are able to feel the orientation of the plug by either the ground prong, or the wider prong on the neutral side.
Are consumers really that stupid that they can't figure something out without forcing and breaking things?
Don't tell me, I know the answer to that.
Can I give a Darwin Award to the person that tries to put a USB in sideways in this thing or do I have to kill them right after wards?
@BigD145
You sir, just put a smile on ma face. =]
Now, how about vertical slots in tower cases?
how about usb 3.0 ?
This should be standardized so every female USB would be like this on every device.
definitely above 50% failure rate for me
This innovation does nothing for those wafer-thin USB flash drives that fit completely inside the USB port. I'm guessing the reason those don't have connectors on both sides is because it might short-circuit with the outside of the usb port.
great idea, but man their site is atrocious. and a formal datasheet or somewhat legible picture of the actual port would be nice too.
@jacktardo The press packet jpgs on top of sparse HTML made me throw up a little in my mouth.
I learned that the USB logo should be facing up when you plug a device into a USB host. In the case of the motherboard, imagine if you had to lay it flat on a table. Hope that helps all of you that won't/can't get your hands on one for home/work.
@c1c That's not always the case. I've seen USB cables and connectors with the logo on either side, and I've seen USB ports with the connectors on top, and ones with the connectors on the bottom. So "USB logo facing up" may be a good rule of thumb but it doesn't always apply.
@Khav 99% of the time the port's connectors will be on the bottom, facing up. it's a pretty safe bet.
I don't get it, I sometimes attempt to plug things in the wrong way yet realise straight away and just flip it round. Does everyone else jsut keep forcing it thinking the connector is just being an arsehole to them and making it hard?
I'm in love. I'll take a gross.
It's about time! I've been complaining about this for years. "we have the technology, why is this a 1-way plug!?"
i'm really glad we're spending our energy as a society on making it safer to do stupid things. between this and those batteries that can be forced in any which way i should be able to spend at least 15 more minutes per week with my brain switched off.
now why isn't anyone working on this long standing issue of cars having two easily confused pedals? brake on the left, gas on the right, this is ridiculous! i can't be expected to remember all that.
I have this bluetooth LOL
Your sticking it in wrong!
@glamajamma
I will beat you to it:
Thats what she said.
I rely on USB cords having the little USB logo on it telling me that it is the top, lol.
this changes everything
Should have been done a long time ago. It should also be standard.
Yes some people are going to bitch and whine about how it's not difficult to get the USB connector in the right way, but who cares? It is also not that difficult open your car with a key, but everyone uses keyless entry. And it's also not that difficult to open your garage door by hand, but everyone has a garage door opener. This makes things EASIER; if it does it and does it well, why get all bitchy about it?
I've been on this one for a few years. Andy's Law of USB states that the first time you try to plug something in USB it is guaranteed to be upside down. The amendment to Andy's Law of USB states that the second time after you try to plug something into USB, it will still be upside down, meaning that the first time you were actually right but were too quick to assume Andy's Law.
This is wonderful when you are trying to work and scrambling to plug in so many usb devices , this is just amazing
It's terrible that there isn't any standardization about this after all the years. Dell can't even keep it straight on their monitors that have USB ports on the side.
WOW! Finally a fine example of re-engineering that actually fixes something instead of requiring you to buy YANGOG (Yet Another Next Generation Of Gadgets).
Thumbs up, chapeau, hurray. Now let's fix those stupid power adapters, headset connectors, carkits, etcetera the same way.
Way to go, UltraTek!