A choice in color?? I don’t know, feels pretty commie to me. Has meh gone full blown communist? Are we really gonna let them have us make our own decisions?
I think it should be emphasized that these are for charging only. One of the Amazon reviews was someone commenting that they couldn’t use the cable to connect their phone with their vehicle’s infotainment system.
@variable5 They don’t even work as charging cables for devices that require the full USB-C signal complement. Most phones can cope with just what’s supported in these, but often at a much lower rate of charging than is supported with all of the connections that the full cable provides.
@variable5@werehatrack I have similar cables been using for years from AliX. They still work for my older Ipad and Kindle tablets. They charge slowly but I usually just pop it on when I am done with it. Also use them for topping off the many random flashlights I have around. They do not work on my Pixel 6a with the USB-C adapter. They did work with my 3a. Also do not work with the Motorola something phone we have with USB-C.
So, basically, only buy if you have a bunch of older devices to use them with and are ok with a very slow charge.
@commodog@xobzoo 70,000ish of us backed this crowdfunding campaign: and the campaign creators disappeared with our money. (IIRC, some comments in that campaign seemed to point to their having created another company which sold the same item, so maybe these cats are related to that. Or not. Don’t know.)
@andymand@commodog@robson Thanks for filling me in!
Also, condolences for the losses. I’ve had mostly-positive experiences Kickstarter, but they don’t always work out. It’s sad when they fail, and aggravating when they scam.
@xobzoo Same here and I like the way you put it about sad/fail and aggravating/scam. I’ve backed about 250 campaigns over the last decade or so and from my spreadsheet data, I see that about 2.5% of them have gone radio-silent, but all the others are either pending (~10% at this moment) or completed in some “successful” way. I like these types of platforms to help birth an idea that resonates with me into the world, knowing that failure is a possibility. I wouldn’t use it to, say, buy a car or a pacemaker.
@hchavers well, actually, you can’t have one without the other. Oh oh, sudden, college flashback
EEC 130A — Electromagnetics I (4 units)
Course Description: Basics of static electric and magnetic fields and fields in materials. Work and scalar potential. Maxwell’s equations in integral and differential form. Plan waves in lossless media. Lossless transmission lines.
Prerequisite(s): MAT 021D; (PHY 009C or PHY 009HD); ENG 017.
@hchavers A better caution might have been “Magnets and semiconductors; what could possibly go wrong?” However, it’s actually fairly difficult to zonk a phone with a magnet of this size.
I thought we were done with politics and social issues. But now we have these in Republican, Democrat, and Green Party state colors; not to mention the gender swap issues.
But I guess we have to taper off gradually.
@blaineg@phendrick@pmarin@tweezak Anything that you can’t connect with wirenuts and secure with staples just isn’t important. And real insulators are ceramic or glass.
Be aware that for any of the advanced charging systems that require the use of more than two of the conductor lines in a USB-C cable, these things will not support that function. Power Delivery may not work in the higher voltages, and some devices may not recognize that the cable is connected at all.
I bought one of these types of cables a while ago for way too much money based on a snazzy advertisement for a cheap piece of drop shipped junk from China.
The key bugaboo to remember with these is that they’re really only convenient if you leave the magnetic tip in your phone/tablet/etc. That becomes a problem when you need to transfer files, connect to Android Auto/CarPlay (Probably works ok wirelessly, if supported), or if the inexpensive cable goes bad as they do.
Otherwise you’ve got to remove the tip and, provided you don’t have the associated cable for it handy, find a safe place to store it until it’s reunited to its cable.
@ciabelle I find these thing great for the old devices that are STILL on micro USB. Like old headphones, kids tablets, remotes, etc. With so many of the plugs now it will be no problem leaving the plug in all the time, and I won’t have to flip the cable 3 times now to get it to fit in.
@ciabelle Possibly more important, if there are any iron shards on your floor or within reach of the magnet on the end of the cable, when the tip is missing, those bits may get into the connection and short it out. This can cause the tip to get hot enough to burn you. Even large rust particles can do this. And, as noted above, the fact that it only supports two conductors out of the full set present in a USB-C cable means that any charging regime that requires the presence of those additional signaling lines will fail with these cables. Some devices cannot use them for charging at all.
I don’t own this particular cable, but I use a magnetic charging cable for my phone. Once you get used to it, it’s actually pretty good. I leave the tip plugged into my phone and it keeps the port clean. I work in a kitchen and usually just day to day work will eventually gum up the power port enough that my charger stops working. Since I started using one of these that has not happened.
@Nikademus1969 You have one of the special case applications for which these are really ideal as a solution. And for my old phone, they worked just fine. For the new one, not so much.
@Nikademus1969 The one problem I have is that the magnets pick up iron filings or other magnetic debris that are impossible to clean out. (Maybe that’s why you need 12 of these)
12? Who the fuck needs 12 of these? Who even needs 6? This seems like a deal for your chargermates site… or perhaps for a bunch of commies to share! I’m onto you. I also don’t trust magnets. It all seems like sorcery to me. I’ll pray for you.
Another in the popular Meh category of “oh I might actually want this if it wasn’t nearly so many”. Having to figure out where to ditch or store the 8-11 of these I don’t use is way more of a cost than what I’d be saving in dollars. Offer me a quarter of these at twice the price each, and I’d call it a better deal.
I have a different brand of magnetic cable that doesn’t light up, but does have enough cables inside to allow data to travel through. It’s not round, it’s oval and has connections at the top and bottom of the oval so it doesn’t matter if you have it right side up or up side down. the nice thing is on older micro usb where it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up and it requires a bit of force to insert, I can just leave these in and no have to put strain on the device all the time. So I’m skipping these, it’s a great price, but fails by not having all of the usb connections.
Based on my personal experience, “magnetic” is only magnetic enough if you plan to leave your device motionless while charging. If you want to use it at all, it’s going to disconnect - a lot.
But - they work. I’ve haven’t used one since “fast charge” became a thing, so I don’t know if that works with these or not…
Been using magnetic cords for ages. Getting tired of ruining plug ins forgetting the device is charging. Ruined a couple Kindles that way. Also helps when the device is knocked around by a dog or child.
@woodman668 Back when my phone used a micro cable, I wore out three sockets before I switched to a new phone. These could have saved me a bunch of hassle.
@sgrenald It is, and data is not supported at all. And while the number of things that won’t work without a USB-C to -C cable is small, it’s nonzero. (My S.O. has one.) And for any device that requires the full features of USB 3.x signaling to employ advanced features (or to simply work), the two-line connection it supports is not going to do the job.
That said, they will provide at least basic charging connection functionality to the vast majority of phones and other USB-charged devices, albeit possibly subject to the limitations I’ve noted in other comments. And they can help prevent a charging port from wearing out, by reducing the need to insert and unplug the cable end. They just don’t do everything.
And yes, that means they don’t make margaritas. (Somebody is going to ask.)
@sgrenald@werehatrack Bound to be somebody here with a USB-rechargeable margarita machine on their small yacht.
(Jeff’s yacht would just have a huge diesel generator, or lotsa solar panels if he worries about reducing pollution. [But he probably doesn’t, per all the junk he sells on his website.])
I’ve been saying this idea for many years now: all of you iphone folks need to realize that it is Google that will run the world in our lifetime and beyond (apple plug changing to USB-C) so you might as well switch to the winning team NOW (Android) and stop being manipulated by a company that PURPOSELY slows your phone to force you to purchase their newest product! (SMDH towards iPhone sheep)
All phones work. All phones suck. People have preferences. Arguing about which brand is superior is incredibly pointless. Everyone please spend your time more constructively
I’m. It sure it was a monumental flop. It was an entry into a commercial/media market that was still relatively small and affordable (Not affordable for me at the time). Ran some version of Unix when rest of small-computer world was in CP/M or MS-DOS (which essentially most of still run on PCs today). Just that neither the technology nor the market was ready for something like that.
@Lisa102503@rpstrong DAMN missed the edit window. Or typing on my friggin Apple iPad keyboard is missing words…. Meant to say that I don’t think it was a monumental flop. Early tech advances often result in what initially looks like setbacks but move things forward. Look at how much professional/media use of Pro iMacs there is now — I’d say Apple captured the market they were going for, 30 years later
@blaineg@Lisa102503@rpstrong compared to what a business would pay for something like an office IBM or DEC or Data General ‘minicomputer,’ yes. Though I don’t recall pricing in the Lisa; i remember hearing about $4K to start, but yeah as pictured with what looks like an expansion hard drive, maybe much more. Something like a PDP-11 or certainly a VAX would cost more than that. I worked at a place that had a system that could do pretty impressive graphics, although very slowly, and I think it was about $50K. $/cycle, $/pixel, $/KB were so much higher then, it’s hard to imagine the scale.
What I got out of this was that Apple Lisa was an ambitious project targeting a commercial/professional market that didn’t really exist yet. Image processing was already a thing, but the idea of digital audio and video for consumer use was not quite there.
What I get out of it is a testament to the vision and management of early 1980’s Apple that was willing to invest in an idea, probably before its time. And somehow weather the loss and keep going. Even back then, Apple was doing multiple projects at once, knowing some might not achieve commercial success. Many companies at the time (Or now) can’t weather a ‘failed’ project. Abundant venture capital at the time might have helped, though I don’t know much about history of early Apple finance. But again, look at success of professional-level Macs now in the digital media market. So it did take a few dozen years….
@blaineg@Lisa102503@pmarin $10K when it was released, which included twin floppies and the 5MB hard drive. Price had dropped to $4K when it was discontinued in two years time.
May have been technologically advanced, but was nonetheless a flop.
I may be the perfect use case for these. SWMBO loves to destroy cables, and sometimes devices, by leaving them plugged in while using them. Yea, that alone won’t do it, but she rests the device on the power cord.
@blaineg I swapped to right-angle plugs to help with that on mine, because cats will knock the phone off the nightstand if I don’t put it in the drawer before dropping off to sleep. Shorter plug projection = less leverage to break things.
@Aryk@ThyProphet@werehatrack oooos! I was somehow thinking C2C when I hit buy. Ah well, I’m sure A2C and A2μB will still
Come in handy, just not quite as much as I was hoping.
These are great for things like my grill thermometer or my kitchen scale. They have usb micro slots for charging and they don’t need a data connection. Same goes for my light pad, I just got it a few days ago and I was starting to worry that I will wear out the slot over time. This should help!
The reviews on Amazon are not good, although it’s a different model with only USB C and Micro. I wonder how the connections and charging efficiency are on this Meh one. Perhaps these are new and improved?
@troy I’m not so sure about that. The link I clicked on here brings me to a cord with only Micro and C usb, no lightning. I just looked again and do not see a lightning connector listed in the description or in the photos.
@troy actually i posted a question on the amazon listing and i was told that that was not a lightning connector, but the connection to attach the micro and C connectors to the cord.
@blaineg@irenegade@troy I just looked at the Amazon page linked from this listing and the red version says USB-C and Micro-USB (no Lightning), while the green version only says Lightning (and there is no blue version listed). Both show three tips in a line in the promo images implying three different connectors. Maybe the Amazon listing is just janky and all the versions include a Lightning connector alongside USB-C and Micro-USB connectors?
@blaineg@irenegade@kensey@troy Given that I ordered one of these quite a while back, I can confirm that they were shipping with all three tips despite omitting Lightning from the details. I can also confirm that the tips supplied were less robust than some others I’ve bought, and I had to get more than one tool out of the box in order to extract the Lightning tab when the base broke off of the tip. That is a problem not unique to this brand, but it’s not a 100%-failure issue either. Also certain phone cases will prevent the round tips from inserting far enough, which can sometimes be solved by extremely careful surgery on the socket area of the case.
I know some are probably won, These CAN NOT be used for syncing purposes (I.e connecting to your car for Spotify, Google maps) they will only charge nothing more.
Also keep several in your vehicle as these types of cords often fail quickly if they even work at all
@OnionSoup blenders capable of running off of what a USB cable can supply will never produce a proper frozen margarita. Not even a tiny little bitty one.
@phendrick@werehatrack a battery powered blender could be really useful. You can crank a car these days from a Lithium Ion battery, so why not a blender?
A battery powered blender would be safe poolside (for the swimmers, not necessarily for the blender). Imagine swimming to the edge of the pool and blending yourself a fresh drink without leaving the water.
@OnionSoup@theonetruestrip I would not want to trust a USB-C plug to be carrying that much power for very long. And I have yet to see a USB-C charging brick that was rated for anything close to that. In any event, none of today’s cables would be compatible with the specifications that provide for that much power to be delivered.
@blaineg@OnionSoup@werehatrack Looks like that rubber pool is on parking lot concrete, so maybe somewhat insulated from ground. Otherwise, that could get very interesting.
@Aryk Sorry, this deal contains 3 unique items and I’m not sure which one you want. You can review how to pick one, or just try ordering from the checkout page.
I just received these. I did not realise that the “glow” is actually a constant strobe light effect. It does this regardless of whether it’s charging something, so while you can leave the tip in a device, you probably won’t want to leave a flashing cable plugged into the charger, reducing the convenience of these pretty drastically.
Does anyone know if this can be disabled non-destructively, or should I start cutting them open until they stop flashing? I do have plenty of spares…
@FajitaofTreason Personally not sure why anyone would buy any sort of illuminated cable and then complain about the illumination. I bought them BECAUSE I like bright flashy colorful things. There are zillions of non-lighted cable options available just about everywhere…I’d actually have hard passed on these if they DIDN’T light up. -shrug-
@PooltoyWolf I’m glad you like yours! To me there’s a pretty big difference between a soft glow and a rapidly flashing strobe light. I just didn’t realize this was the latter.
@FajitaofTreason Perhaps it’s because I knew what to expect, having experience with these. My old iPhone 4 was charged with a similar cable, though that one would actually vary the ‘marching’ speed of the cable according to the battery charge level. The closer to full the battery got, the slower the rate, until the battery was fully charged and it would stop. I found that one to be useful for knowing battery level at a quick glance.
Non-functioning. The USB-C tip fits quite loosely into my bog-standard Moto phone and will not charge. Yes, the cable lights up and looks pretty. So I’ve got 11 packs unopened and one opened, tried, and failed.
I have 11 of these for sale in the package and one opened if anyone is interested. No swivel on the end so it pops off all the time. Speaking of “all the time” the cable flashes its lights… All the time. Most cables like this will flash only when charging.
Specs
Product: 12-Pack: Statik Globright Light-Up Universal Charging Cables
Model: PUP-0251-RED, PUP-0158-BLU, PUP-0253-GRN
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$131.88 for 12 at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Tuesday, Oct 10 - Thursday, Oct 12
A choice in color?? I don’t know, feels pretty commie to me. Has meh gone full blown communist? Are we really gonna let them have us make our own decisions?
@DrunkCat This place is overrun with commies. Good luck driving us out. We’re stubborn bastards.
/giphy joe mccarthy
Not what I was looking for, but works.
I think it should be emphasized that these are for charging only. One of the Amazon reviews was someone commenting that they couldn’t use the cable to connect their phone with their vehicle’s infotainment system.
@variable5 That was my guess; thanks for the confirmation.
/giphy see this
@variable5 They don’t even work as charging cables for devices that require the full USB-C signal complement. Most phones can cope with just what’s supported in these, but often at a much lower rate of charging than is supported with all of the connections that the full cable provides.
@variable5 @werehatrack I have similar cables been using for years from AliX. They still work for my older Ipad and Kindle tablets. They charge slowly but I usually just pop it on when I am done with it. Also use them for topping off the many random flashlights I have around. They do not work on my Pixel 6a with the USB-C adapter. They did work with my 3a. Also do not work with the Motorola something phone we have with USB-C.
So, basically, only buy if you have a bunch of older devices to use them with and are ok with a very slow charge.
@ponagathos @variable5 @werehatrack Thanks for the info. I’ve got a newer Motorola phone!
Znaps!
Thanks for the reminder.
@yakkoTDI bitches took my money
@commodog You’re remembering that you can cancel your order, right? (though you may be making a reference I don’t know, in which case: carry on)
@commodog @xobzoo 70,000ish of us backed this crowdfunding campaign: and the campaign creators disappeared with our money. (IIRC, some comments in that campaign seemed to point to their having created another company which sold the same item, so maybe these cats are related to that. Or not. Don’t know.)
@andymand @commodog @xobzoo
Wow, that’s a flash from the past!
Those shit-asses took my money too. I had forgotten all about it, don’t remember now how much it was…
@andymand @commodog @robson Thanks for filling me in!
Also, condolences for the losses. I’ve had mostly-positive experiences Kickstarter, but they don’t always work out. It’s sad when they fail, and aggravating when they scam.
@xobzoo Same here and I like the way you put it about sad/fail and aggravating/scam. I’ve backed about 250 campaigns over the last decade or so and from my spreadsheet data, I see that about 2.5% of them have gone radio-silent, but all the others are either pending (~10% at this moment) or completed in some “successful” way. I like these types of platforms to help birth an idea that resonates with me into the world, knowing that failure is a possibility. I wouldn’t use it to, say, buy a car or a pacemaker.
As the resident IT dork who gets hit up for “do you have a charging cable?” all the time… Perfect
Really 12, how about 3 for 6. That would leave me more funds for the next thing I’m gonna buy that I really don’t need.
@dtwsportsfan I like your thinking!
@dtwsportsfan because ~$20 is the threshold for people willing to spend money on trash.
Magnets and electricity, nothing could possibly go wrong.
@hchavers well, actually, you can’t have one without the other. Oh oh, sudden, college flashback
@hchavers @pmarin
≥Can’t have one without the other
What’s this then?
/image magnet
@chienfou @hchavers @pmarin A patriotic horseshoe?
@hchavers A better caution might have been “Magnets and semiconductors; what could possibly go wrong?” However, it’s actually fairly difficult to zonk a phone with a magnet of this size.
@chienfou @hchavers @pmarin An electrical generator.
I prefer the pulsating glow of a charging cable that’s caught fire.
@awk But these can do that, if a conductive magnetic particle gets caught in the magnetic end and shorts it out.
I thought we were done with politics and social issues. But now we have these in Republican, Democrat, and Green Party state colors; not to mention the gender swap issues.
But I guess we have to taper off gradually.
@phendrick I identify as micro USB.
@phendrick @tweezak I go old school: RS-232 for me
@phendrick @pmarin @tweezak 9 or 25 pin?
@blaineg @phendrick @tweezak DB25 fer sure
@blaineg @pmarin @tweezak I tend to be pretty asynchronous, so UART for me. (But probably just a teensy bit of solder, for the connection.)
@blaineg @phendrick @pmarin @tweezak Anything that you can’t connect with wirenuts and secure with staples just isn’t important. And real insulators are ceramic or glass.
@werehatrack You must have been the surgeon who worked for Dr. Frankenstein.
@werehatrack
@blaineg @pmarin @tweezak
You forgot duct tape.
Oh wait, that’s for cars.
@blaineg @phendrick @pmarin @tweezak @werehatrack no that’s zip ties
Stocking up on stocking stuffers in October, I guess. In for a variety pack
If I didn’t already have more cables than I already need, I would 100% buy this
@krmtdfrog if they didn’t light up I 100% would.
@Ignorant @krmtdfrog A persuasive pair of wire snips can fix that.
@TehMaliron very good point
@krmtdfrog Don’t let that stop you…
I’m not thrilled by the choice of the brand name Statik.
Only 3 feet? Why not 1 meter? Or at least a 6 footer in there.
Too short. And a preemptive TWSS.
Look for these in IRKs in the future.
Be aware that for any of the advanced charging systems that require the use of more than two of the conductor lines in a USB-C cable, these things will not support that function. Power Delivery may not work in the higher voltages, and some devices may not recognize that the cable is connected at all.
I bought one of these types of cables a while ago for way too much money based on a snazzy advertisement for a cheap piece of drop shipped junk from China.
The key bugaboo to remember with these is that they’re really only convenient if you leave the magnetic tip in your phone/tablet/etc. That becomes a problem when you need to transfer files, connect to Android Auto/CarPlay (Probably works ok wirelessly, if supported), or if the inexpensive cable goes bad as they do.
Otherwise you’ve got to remove the tip and, provided you don’t have the associated cable for it handy, find a safe place to store it until it’s reunited to its cable.
@ciabelle I find these thing great for the old devices that are STILL on micro USB. Like old headphones, kids tablets, remotes, etc. With so many of the plugs now it will be no problem leaving the plug in all the time, and I won’t have to flip the cable 3 times now to get it to fit in.
@ciabelle Possibly more important, if there are any iron shards on your floor or within reach of the magnet on the end of the cable, when the tip is missing, those bits may get into the connection and short it out. This can cause the tip to get hot enough to burn you. Even large rust particles can do this. And, as noted above, the fact that it only supports two conductors out of the full set present in a USB-C cable means that any charging regime that requires the presence of those additional signaling lines will fail with these cables. Some devices cannot use them for charging at all.
I don’t own this particular cable, but I use a magnetic charging cable for my phone. Once you get used to it, it’s actually pretty good. I leave the tip plugged into my phone and it keeps the port clean. I work in a kitchen and usually just day to day work will eventually gum up the power port enough that my charger stops working. Since I started using one of these that has not happened.
@Nikademus1969 You have one of the special case applications for which these are really ideal as a solution. And for my old phone, they worked just fine. For the new one, not so much.
@Nikademus1969 The one problem I have is that the magnets pick up iron filings or other magnetic debris that are impossible to clean out. (Maybe that’s why you need 12 of these)
@ergomeh @Nikademus1969
BTDT, had the end get shorted out and start to smoke.
12? Who the fuck needs 12 of these? Who even needs 6? This seems like a deal for your chargermates site… or perhaps for a bunch of commies to share! I’m onto you. I also don’t trust magnets. It all seems like sorcery to me. I’ll pray for you.
All your devices get just the tip with this deal!
Another in the popular Meh category of “oh I might actually want this if it wasn’t nearly so many”. Having to figure out where to ditch or store the 8-11 of these I don’t use is way more of a cost than what I’d be saving in dollars. Offer me a quarter of these at twice the price each, and I’d call it a better deal.
@3Phen hand them out to kids at trick-or-treat time?
@pmarin Actually tempted by this idea… But maybe danger (if only of drama with parents) with the magnetic bits / too-small kids getting ahold of them?
I have a different brand of magnetic cable that doesn’t light up, but does have enough cables inside to allow data to travel through. It’s not round, it’s oval and has connections at the top and bottom of the oval so it doesn’t matter if you have it right side up or up side down. the nice thing is on older micro usb where it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up and it requires a bit of force to insert, I can just leave these in and no have to put strain on the device all the time. So I’m skipping these, it’s a great price, but fails by not having all of the usb connections.
@Kyser_Soze What brand?
@TheFLP NetDot
Yep, this is my style of weight-lifting.
It gets me all charged up; I feel energized when I’m done.
We’re going to see lightning cables on here for years, aren’t we?
@mcanavino That will be fine with me. I will be using my old phone for years.
@Kidsandliz You’re literally taking food from Apple’s kids.
@mcanavino They probably eat caviar anyway so no worries.
We’ve been using these since they first came out. They’re awesome! Might buy these b/c they have a shorter cord.
POPSOCKETS! ROAD ROCKETS! SONNY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@mediocrebot what
Based on my personal experience, “magnetic” is only magnetic enough if you plan to leave your device motionless while charging. If you want to use it at all, it’s going to disconnect - a lot.
But - they work. I’ve haven’t used one since “fast charge” became a thing, so I don’t know if that works with these or not…
@Pufferfishy Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
I saw another comment that mentioned that these do not handle data. Is that the case? I couldn’t find it in the description.
@ltruelove The description also does not say that they can do data. They are charge-only, and not all charging methods and features are supported.
Green in the images but no green for purchasing? I’m out.
Been using magnetic cords for ages. Getting tired of ruining plug ins forgetting the device is charging. Ruined a couple Kindles that way. Also helps when the device is knocked around by a dog or child.
@woodman668 Back when my phone used a micro cable, I wore out three sockets before I switched to a new phone. These could have saved me a bunch of hassle.
How long are the cords?
@daplyler three feet.
@daplyler Reading is hard.
If they are magnetic…can you daisy chain them together to make a longer cord?
@whitelightertre risk of this being a joke…No
@ThyProphet thanks!
@whitelightertre It’s not symmetrical, the other end is USB-A.
If the other end was USB-C, I’d probably get them. But it looks like USB-A
@sgrenald It is, and data is not supported at all. And while the number of things that won’t work without a USB-C to -C cable is small, it’s nonzero. (My S.O. has one.) And for any device that requires the full features of USB 3.x signaling to employ advanced features (or to simply work), the two-line connection it supports is not going to do the job.
That said, they will provide at least basic charging connection functionality to the vast majority of phones and other USB-charged devices, albeit possibly subject to the limitations I’ve noted in other comments. And they can help prevent a charging port from wearing out, by reducing the need to insert and unplug the cable end. They just don’t do everything.
And yes, that means they don’t make margaritas. (Somebody is going to ask.)
@sgrenald @werehatrack Bound to be somebody here with a USB-rechargeable margarita machine on their small yacht.
(Jeff’s yacht would just have a huge diesel generator, or lotsa solar panels if he worries about reducing pollution. [But he probably doesn’t, per all the junk he sells on his website.])
@phendrick @sgrenald He’s probably lusting after his own copy of the hypersize blender that How Ridiculous built. Margs by the cubic yard? Can do!
I’ve been saying this idea for many years now: all of you iphone folks need to realize that it is Google that will run the world in our lifetime and beyond (apple plug changing to USB-C) so you might as well switch to the winning team NOW (Android) and stop being manipulated by a company that PURPOSELY slows your phone to force you to purchase their newest product! (SMDH towards iPhone sheep)
@Lisa102503 I don’t get {Mermaids} like you who try and start petty pointless arguments like this.
The only Apple product not using USB C now is the iPhone but the new 15 will have USB C so you won’t be able to use that much longer
edited out name calling - thumperchick
@Lisa102503 Blame the EU for Apple swapping to C. Absent their mandate, the iPhone would have remained with Lightning.
@Lisa102503 This, from someone named for one of Apple’s monumental flops?
@Lisa102503 Thanks, no.
All phones work. All phones suck. People have preferences. Arguing about which brand is superior is incredibly pointless. Everyone please spend your time more constructively
@Lisa102503 @rpstrong
/image apple lisa
I’m. It sure it was a monumental flop. It was an entry into a commercial/media market that was still relatively small and affordable (Not affordable for me at the time). Ran some version of Unix when rest of small-computer world was in CP/M or MS-DOS (which essentially most of still run on PCs today). Just that neither the technology nor the market was ready for something like that.
@Lisa102503 @rpstrong DAMN missed the edit window. Or typing on my friggin Apple iPad keyboard is missing words…. Meant to say that I don’t think it was a monumental flop. Early tech advances often result in what initially looks like setbacks but move things forward. Look at how much professional/media use of Pro iMacs there is now — I’d say Apple captured the market they were going for, 30 years later
@Lisa102503 @pmarin @rpstrong $10,000 was affordable? In 1983?
@blaineg @Lisa102503 @rpstrong compared to what a business would pay for something like an office IBM or DEC or Data General ‘minicomputer,’ yes. Though I don’t recall pricing in the Lisa; i remember hearing about $4K to start, but yeah as pictured with what looks like an expansion hard drive, maybe much more. Something like a PDP-11 or certainly a VAX would cost more than that. I worked at a place that had a system that could do pretty impressive graphics, although very slowly, and I think it was about $50K. $/cycle, $/pixel, $/KB were so much higher then, it’s hard to imagine the scale.
What I got out of this was that Apple Lisa was an ambitious project targeting a commercial/professional market that didn’t really exist yet. Image processing was already a thing, but the idea of digital audio and video for consumer use was not quite there.
What I get out of it is a testament to the vision and management of early 1980’s Apple that was willing to invest in an idea, probably before its time. And somehow weather the loss and keep going. Even back then, Apple was doing multiple projects at once, knowing some might not achieve commercial success. Many companies at the time (Or now) can’t weather a ‘failed’ project. Abundant venture capital at the time might have helped, though I don’t know much about history of early Apple finance. But again, look at success of professional-level Macs now in the digital media market. So it did take a few dozen years….
@blaineg @Lisa102503 @pmarin $10K when it was released, which included twin floppies and the 5MB hard drive. Price had dropped to $4K when it was discontinued in two years time.
May have been technologically advanced, but was nonetheless a flop.
@blaineg @Lisa102503 @pmarin @rpstrong Apple stock back then was pennies a share too. Just think. Time travel. We’d be rich today!
@Kidsandliz @Lisa102503 @pmarin @rpstrong Proof time travel does not exist.
I may be the perfect use case for these. SWMBO loves to destroy cables, and sometimes devices, by leaving them plugged in while using them. Yea, that alone won’t do it, but she rests the device on the power cord.
Disconnecting when moved sounds ideal to me.
@blaineg I swapped to right-angle plugs to help with that on mine, because cats will knock the phone off the nightstand if I don’t put it in the drawer before dropping off to sleep. Shorter plug projection = less leverage to break things.
@werehatrack Good idea, but not good enough for her. Currently I’ve resorted to very short cables so she has to unplug to use them.
@blaineg Several reviews of these cite problems with the tips coming apart when attempting to unplug them, which is not unique to this brand.
/giphy quivering-haunting-killer
/showme quivering-haunting-killer
Does anyone know if this will work to charge PS5 or switch controllers?
@Aryk They’ll charge anything that fits the plugs but they can’t be used to sync, charge only
@Aryk @ThyProphet Almost anything. If the device only charges with a C to C cable, this won’t do the job.
@Aryk @ThyProphet @werehatrack oooos! I was somehow thinking C2C when I hit buy. Ah well, I’m sure A2C and A2μB will still
Come in handy, just not quite as much as I was hoping.
These are great for things like my grill thermometer or my kitchen scale. They have usb micro slots for charging and they don’t need a data connection. Same goes for my light pad, I just got it a few days ago and I was starting to worry that I will wear out the slot over time. This should help!
The reviews on Amazon are not good, although it’s a different model with only USB C and Micro. I wonder how the connections and charging efficiency are on this Meh one. Perhaps these are new and improved?
@irenegade The model on Amazon is the same as ours, and includes Lightning, USB-C and Micro USB
@troy I’m not so sure about that. The link I clicked on here brings me to a cord with only Micro and C usb, no lightning. I just looked again and do not see a lightning connector listed in the description or in the photos.
@irenegade Doesn’t mention lightning in the description (for some reason), but the pictures do show 3 connectors with lightning included
@troy actually i posted a question on the amazon listing and i was told that that was not a lightning connector, but the connection to attach the micro and C connectors to the cord.
@irenegade @troy It says Lightning right there in the specs at the top of the page.
@blaineg @troy on the Amazon page? The one here has lightning but not the one on Amazon, troy and i were commenting on .
@blaineg @irenegade @troy I just looked at the Amazon page linked from this listing and the red version says USB-C and Micro-USB (no Lightning), while the green version only says Lightning (and there is no blue version listed). Both show three tips in a line in the promo images implying three different connectors. Maybe the Amazon listing is just janky and all the versions include a Lightning connector alongside USB-C and Micro-USB connectors?
@blaineg @irenegade @kensey @troy Given that I ordered one of these quite a while back, I can confirm that they were shipping with all three tips despite omitting Lightning from the details. I can also confirm that the tips supplied were less robust than some others I’ve bought, and I had to get more than one tool out of the box in order to extract the Lightning tab when the base broke off of the tip. That is a problem not unique to this brand, but it’s not a 100%-failure issue either. Also certain phone cases will prevent the round tips from inserting far enough, which can sometimes be solved by extremely careful surgery on the socket area of the case.
I know some are probably won, These CAN NOT be used for syncing purposes (I.e connecting to your car for Spotify, Google maps) they will only charge nothing more.
Also keep several in your vehicle as these types of cords often fail quickly if they even work at all
If your blender is powered by USB you could use these to make a margarita. Personally, I don’t like margaritas though, so a pass from me.
@OnionSoup blenders capable of running off of what a USB cable can supply will never produce a proper frozen margarita. Not even a tiny little bitty one.
@OnionSoup @werehatrack But perhaps to recharge, if not run directly.
@phendrick @werehatrack a battery powered blender could be really useful. You can crank a car these days from a Lithium Ion battery, so why not a blender?
A battery powered blender would be safe poolside (for the swimmers, not necessarily for the blender). Imagine swimming to the edge of the pool and blending yourself a fresh drink without leaving the water.
@OnionSoup I do like Maggies, but on the rocks - no salted rim, no blending.
@OnionSoup @phendrick Why not have it mounted to its own dedicated raft, with integral cooler full of ice, and bar well?
@OnionSoup @phendrick @werehatrack Battery powered? Wimps!
@OnionSoup @werehatrack USB-C goes to 250W so not a very powerful blender, but maybe one that could EVENTUALLY maul ice into margaritas
@OnionSoup @theonetruestrip I would not want to trust a USB-C plug to be carrying that much power for very long. And I have yet to see a USB-C charging brick that was rated for anything close to that. In any event, none of today’s cables would be compatible with the specifications that provide for that much power to be delivered.
@blaineg @OnionSoup @werehatrack Looks like that rubber pool is on parking lot concrete, so maybe somewhat insulated from ground. Otherwise, that could get very interesting.
/buy
@Aryk Sorry, this deal contains 3 unique items and I’m not sure which one you want. You can review how to pick one, or just try ordering from the checkout page.
And they’re sold out. No muss, little fuss, much buy, yay!
@werehatrack Oh dang. I’ll admit I was hoping these wouldn’t sell out so I could grab a 4-pack on a future attempt to sell them.
@3Phen There might be more, we shall see.
@3Phen @werehatrack I’ll sell you eleven unopened ones.
If you would check the routing of this package!!! Absolutely incredible
I just received these. I did not realise that the “glow” is actually a constant strobe light effect. It does this regardless of whether it’s charging something, so while you can leave the tip in a device, you probably won’t want to leave a flashing cable plugged into the charger, reducing the convenience of these pretty drastically.
Does anyone know if this can be disabled non-destructively, or should I start cutting them open until they stop flashing? I do have plenty of spares…
@FajitaofTreason No nondestructive method is provided. Surgery is the only route, and it’s best done minimally.
@FajitaofTreason @werehatrack There are some non-destructive options, but they tend to affect the cable’s weight and/or flexibility.
KuoH
@FajitaofTreason @kuoh @werehatrack Then there’s the old Meh solution
/image black sharpie
@FajitaofTreason Personally not sure why anyone would buy any sort of illuminated cable and then complain about the illumination. I bought them BECAUSE I like bright flashy colorful things. There are zillions of non-lighted cable options available just about everywhere…I’d actually have hard passed on these if they DIDN’T light up. -shrug-
@PooltoyWolf I’m glad you like yours! To me there’s a pretty big difference between a soft glow and a rapidly flashing strobe light. I just didn’t realize this was the latter.
@FajitaofTreason Perhaps it’s because I knew what to expect, having experience with these. My old iPhone 4 was charged with a similar cable, though that one would actually vary the ‘marching’ speed of the cable according to the battery charge level. The closer to full the battery got, the slower the rate, until the battery was fully charged and it would stop. I found that one to be useful for knowing battery level at a quick glance.
they work but the magnets are really weak and if you try to unplug, you’ll have to pry the usb-c/micro/lightning tip off of the device
Non-functioning. The USB-C tip fits quite loosely into my bog-standard Moto phone and will not charge. Yes, the cable lights up and looks pretty. So I’ve got 11 packs unopened and one opened, tried, and failed.
I have 11 of these for sale in the package and one opened if anyone is interested. No swivel on the end so it pops off all the time. Speaking of “all the time” the cable flashes its lights… All the time. Most cables like this will flash only when charging.
So overall rating… meh.