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Comment by pdpi | Hacker News Reader

> maybe with a more robust connector than RJ45

USB-C could be that connector, using USB-PD instead of PoE. Though I'm not sure I'd want to need that much smarts for every single power outlet.

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Considering the number of times I've sheared off a USB-C connector vs ethernet, I wouldn't consider USB-C to be more robust than RJ45. YMMV.

How often do you unplug RJ45s versus USB-C, though?

I'm not talking about unplugging. Normal use.

USB-C devices tend to be mobile. Flexing and disconnecting are much more common.

And in normal use, how often do you handle or cycle an rj45 vs a usb?

Even when it's your job the usb are still handled and cycled way more often. You might handle 100 ethernet jacks today, but it won't be the same one 100 times. You plug it in and don't touch that one again for 5 years.

You mean the ethernet cable in my laptop? Couple of times a day. The box under my desk? Often? How about the hundreds of devices I work with that have RJ45 connectors for serial access? All the time? Are you seriously telling me you hold up a (decently made) ethernet cable next to a USB-C connector and think "yeah...the one a fraction of the size of the other is obviously mechanically stronger". Is this some Apple shill campaign to try and get people to think "no, no...the smaller, thinner, narrower and shallower the connector is the better it will be someplace where people bump it all the time"?

No, but looking at the two side by side, I do think that the one with a fragile clip that shears off every time somebody trips on it is going to be more of a problem than the friction fit one that will just come off.

As opposed to the one that has no clip to hold it in, and shears off the whole connector when you trip over it. And I can use the ethernet cable without the tab.

Some people will embrace any absurdity to pretend to be right.

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