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this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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So far, nothing I’ve ever owned has had a C connector, I have two computers with c ports, but nothing to plug in to them. Also, does the thunderbolt look like the USBc? If you plug in a thunderbolt device into a USBc, does it work or burn out the port?
That’s actually impressive you’ve managed to stay in the past so long.
I have always striven to remain at the cutting edge of obsolescence. It is fun to keep old tech going
Thank you for being the kind of person I sell my used tech to so I can buy new tech. You are a hero.
"written from my Palm Pilot"
What devices do you have that connect over usb-c aside from a phone? As far as I've seen, it's still not common for keyboards, mice, webcams, controllers, monitors, printers, or external drives (though I'd admit drives are becoming more common, particularly for ssds). I'm honestly curious, because I feel like I'm missing out.
All my gadgets use USB-C. Bluetooth headphones, eReader, laptop, printer, power bank, 360 camera, they all charge via USB-C.
Hell, even my neck cooler runs off it.
Ah, for charging, sure. The comment I was replying to seemed like they were talking about interacting/interfacing via usb-c with their desktop, not just charging, which is certainly becoming more common.
To be clear - they also work with data transfer (well, except the power bank and neck cooler).
I copy ebooks to my reader over USB, transfer photos off my camera, and print photos - all via USB-C.
My headset, watch, powerbank, Nintendo switch, my TV remote
Just about everything except truly basement-tier China tech sitting in warehouses has C now so you'll soon be glad to have the ports.
USB C is a form factor (pretty little reversible oval cable). Thunderbolt is a protocol and yes it uses USB C for the form factor. Other protocols on USB C cabling include 2.0 (ancient speed, used for charging only these days), 3.1 (old speed) 3.2 (slightly old but also not, it's weird, and most common nowadays), DisplayPort (lovely modern video standard), and USB4 (which is newest and fast, but not quite as fast as TB). Decent rule of thumb is USB4 will always be one step behind Thunderbolt in speed (currently ~80gbps vs 40gbps in USB4). The cable will work at the fastest speed permitted by both devices. If they both have TB, then TB speed and power. If only one is TB, it'll go at USB speed over yes the same cable because...
Lastly, any proper spec cable will negotiate the best, safest power transfer between chargers and devices. So just don't buy complete junk, read a couple reviews, you'll almost certainly be fine.
And for uploading the firmware into nearly every small device you have that has a microcontroller with some flash memory on it. They still use TTL serial, so a USB 2.0 to TTL serial adapter is often used. It's also still widely in use for, again, programming of things like commercial/industrial fire/burglar alarm panels.
Often, things we consider "old" in the consumer space go on to live for decades just fine in the industrial/commercial space.
Iirc thunderbolt looks like usb-c and it even works with usb-c, you just won't get the extra bandwidth and some devices won't work properly.