The USB interface has made its way to almost every device imaginable. It’s only going to be more ubiquitous following the approval of a legislation by the European Union that mandates the use of USB-C on all devices such as smartphones, tablets, and other handheld devices like portable speakers and cameras before the end of 2024. But how did it become the poster boy for wired connectivity? And how did it manage to become the industry standard?
The pre-USB era
Prior to the inception of USB, peripherals such as printers, mice, and keyboards were connected to a computer either through a Serial port or Parallel port. It was much simpler back then, but as time progressed and new innovations got introduced, the number of ports and cables also grew exponentially.
It goes without saying that these variations created confusion among consumers and manufacturers alike. It’s clear that the tech industry needed to devise a simpler and unified way of connecting peripherals to a computer, and also address the increasing demand for a faster data transfer rate in process.
Good things come in small packages
Pressed with these issues, a consortium of seven tech giants (Compaq, Dell, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Nortel) started development on a new technology in 1995. The goal was to create a new interface that can do all the things that its predecessors did, but is capable of faster transfer speed and with a smaller footprint.
The resulting tech was called Universal Serial Bus, or more commonly referred to as USB. The first iteration of this new interface made its debut back in 1996, and it was clear right from the get-go that it was a huge step in the right direction.
Design-wise, the USB was a complete departure from what was considered the standard at the time. The now iconic rectangular port is noticeably smaller compared to traditional interfaces. However, despite its decrease in size, the USB was no slouch in the data transfer rate department. It was quite the contrary, in fact, because it left its predecessors in the dust with a top speed rated at 12 Mbps. This kind of data transfer speed was almost unheard of at the time, but it wasn't the fastest. That title belonged to the USB’s rival: FireWire.
Apple doing Apple things
Well before the seven tech giants banded together to create the USB, a group of companies spearheaded by Apple had already begun working on a solution that would address the same issues that USB was trying to solve.
After nearly a decade of development, the collaboration gave birth to a new interface which was known by many monikers (IEEE 1394, i.LINK, and Lynx), but more commonly referred to as FireWire. It was everything the USB was supposed to be, and more. Among the host of advantages that FireWire has over the USB include a full-duplex data transfer with speeds reaching up to 786 Mbit/s, support for daisy-chaining up to 63 devices without the need for a host device, and a demand for less processing power from the computer in order to achieve all of these feats.
Despite the advantages that FireWire had over USB, it had one major flaw that prevented it from becoming the go-to solution for wired connectivity: cost. It was more expensive to use FireWire compared to USB because it requires a controller chip to be present on both the computer and the peripheral in order for it to work. As if that wasn’t costly enough, device manufacturers are required to pay royalty to Apple if they decide to integrate FireWire into their products.
When it first came out, the USB was the far more inferior option compared to the FireWire. Although the team behind the USB was able to address some of its shortcomings in future iterations, it was the USB’s more affordable price tag and simpler implementation that allowed it to become the industry standard that we know today.
The USB has become a reliable tool for file transfers and even wired connectivity. For fiber-fast WiFi connection at home, do check out PLDT Home’s Fiber Plus Plans today and discover why PLDT was recognized by Ookla as the fastest Internet in the Philippines for five years in a row.