The Cheapskate Reason Why USBs Only Work in One Direction
Every time you plug in your phone charger, there's a 50/50 shot you'll actually get it in the right way on your first try.
Now this is something I think about a lot. Why is there only one way to plug in your USB charger, and why was it invented this way. Was it a mistake, or is there a reason the USB will only go in one way?
So I did a little research, because I'm sure, like me, you were probably wondering the same thing after struggling to get that USB plugged in the right way. Well what I found out is very interesting and ironic at the same time.
According to wikipedia.com, the person who's responsible for inventing the USB and other technologies is a man called Ajay Bhatt, an Indian-born American computer architect who defined and developed several widely used technologies, including the USB, (Universal Serial Bus), and various other plug in devices. Bhatt's employment history includes a stint with Intel back in 1990 as a senior staff architect on the chipset team. He's also responsible for one hundered and thirty two different U.S and international patents.
Now here's where it gets pretty interesting. According to foxbusiness.com, Bhatt actually was in favor of a USB that could be plugged in either way, but when push came to shove, the whole concept revolved around money. In order to have a plug that was compatable both ways the device would have required double the wires and circuits, and that means double the cost for the manufacturer. Obviously a cost increase like that wouldn't fly in our modern day economic environment, so once they had the prototype, ultimatly the deciding factor that won over suppliers was the USB's low cost, so Intel opted to make it the industry standard even though you could only plug it in one way.
This tutorial video may help you out when trying to figure out which way to plug in your USB charger.