USB
It's from 1996, before you were born.
- Maker
- Intel-led industry consortium
- Type
- Universal connection standard
- Debuted
- 1996
- Note
- Always plugs in wrong the first time
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About
As of 2026, it's 30 years old.
USB — the Universal Serial Bus — arrived in 1996 to end the chaos of a dozen incompatible ports, replacing serial, parallel, and PS/2 connectors with one plug that promised to work with everything.
It mostly delivered, becoming the connector that powers your keyboard, your phone, your charger, and that mystery cable in the junk drawer. Its one tragic flaw: it never goes in right on the first try, defying a 50/50 probability with supernatural consistency.
Universal, ubiquitous, and eternally upside-down, the 1996 USB port is the humble plug that united the gadget world and gave humanity a brand-new tiny daily frustration.
