I think the complaint is more about the ports on computers, and the answer is for manufacturers to label the ports and for users to read them.

That last part is admittedly hard for a lot of people (myself includes at times).

there are too many standards.

for most part, rather than all that mess, maybe just stamp the cable/port with max wattage and max speed. So rather than worry about what standard am I using, I just know what I have and what goes where.

At least thunderbolt you usually get an icon plus number. Though most devices don’t label the ports.

All the other USB standards are confusing as shit.

It’s the USB Implementers Forum’s job to standardize these things, and they’ve just been doing a bad job. The naming scheme is a mess and the requirements are so loose, manufacturers just kinda hit whatever specs they want.

They need to set specific comprehensive list of technical requirements for each class of USB-C cable and port, reduce the number of classes (no more than 3-5), and make the naming scheme and logo design of those classes very clear and obvious to the less informed.

There’s supposed to be specfic icons the manufacturers can print next to the port. It’s not perfect, but at least it’s easy to know at a glance eg. whether it can double as a displayport or not and whether it can double as an input charging port or not.

Cable only charging, only this, only that speed.

Device A only this, only that.

Device B see A.

No 5 kOhm resistors on the CC pins? Not even 5V charging works for C->C. I love USB C, absolutely do not get me wrong, but holy fuck this willy nilly bullshit destroys it. Just make USB3, then 4 years later etc. with very specific things it must be able to do and mark all devices and be done with it.

"a bit slower" can mean multiple hours even for a regular smartphone, or a full day for something like a powerbank. That can easily catch you out if you expect the device to fast-charge as usual. It works, but it's far from ideal

I'm having some cheap devices with USB C plugs to charge, that stubbornly refuse to get charged with "better" cables. Only the real cheap ones work.
Probably because some pins must not be used or something, but it really sucks needing a separate cable around just for those devices

I get, that not every cable or device can support fast charging, but the other way round should at least work

Except that C to C only works when the receiving device has at least the required 5 kOhm resistors on the CC pins. Otherwise nada. But guess what? Lots of shit does not, so only charges from USB A.

I have a fucking thinkpad that does not follow the USB PD spec!

The thing has only type-c ports, the thing is relatively recent (2023), the thing accepts 140W via type-c, I never bothered to check the actual specs and assumed PD 3.1

Turned out that no, this is not PD, this works only via proprietary power brick that outputs 20v@6.75A, that I didn't get as I already have a bajilion of PD 3.0/3.1 power supplies at home.

::: spoiler back of the device

Just because some companies sells USB butplugs it doesn't mean USB standard is necessarily a pain in the ass overall.

No, but it does mean that the USB standard allows for being a pain in the ass, compatibility-wise, which kind-of defeats the point.

All it would have taken are 2 resistors...