type in USB cable dongle or flash drive
on Amazon and your eyes will be assaulted with products from hundreds of
companies some well known others not so
much what is a cute
so how exactly do you know which ones to trust and spend your money on this is a
question the USB implementers Forum tries to help you answer with its
special certification program in case you didn't know USB if is responsible
for developing the USB specification it's kind of like a blueprint that all
USB gadgets are supposed to follow but what's the difference between a
certified and non-certified product and why does it take so long for certified
options to show up when a new Lightning Fast USB version hits the internet along
with hot takes about its naming scheme to find out we spoke with Jeff
ravencraft the president of usbif so
he's kind of like the head of the USB universe
and we'd like to thank him as well as Joe balik for helping us out with this
episode so usbif certification process
is voluntary but many companies choose to pay and have their products certified
to gain a leg up on competitors they get to use one of those little logos you've
probably seen on product packaging before and also they benefit from USB
if's advertising which tells customers to look for that logo When shopping
online in 2021 Those ads got over 305
million impressions and if even a small fraction of those customers are
convinced to buy a certified product instead of a non-certified one that's a
big difference in sales but the usbif certification process involves more than
just taking money to slap on a sticker testing is required to ensure the
product is built to spec and won't unexpectedly give you poor performance
or be shoddily constructed companies such as Underwriters Laboratories
contract with usbif to do the testing and these companies also have to submit
to audits to make sure the testing is being done done correctly testing the
testing you know otherwise it is really is really a test the uspif also runs
special workshops where products from Member companies can be certified as
well as the platform interoperability lab in Oregon where lots of Big Industry
players like Intel and AMD have their products tested while they're still in
development to ensure proper operation or as I call it properation but the
certification process can take quite a long time which you've probably noticed
if you're looking for a certified product compliant with the latest and
greatest spec so why does it take USB gadgets so long to get certified or even
to come to Market in the first place we'll tell you right after we thank freshbooks for sponsoring this video
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your freshbook subscription for four months now it turns out that once a new
spec is published it typically takes manufacturers 12 to 18 months to start
getting products on store shelves so part of that delay has nothing to do
with the certification process itself it's not their fault additionally
although the spec gives companies a blueprint as to how to properly
implement the new version of USB the certification process actually has to
get developed after the spec comes out since as companies find quirks and snags
with a new revision testing protocols get designed to make sure those things
don't end up affecting the final product but if you can't wait for a certified
version of the power adapter or external SSD or eyeballing how do you know if a
non-certified product is any good I mean almost 3 billion USBC devices have been
shipped in 2022 so as many good products
as there are out there there's also a lot of crap to sift through as well the
answer is actually quite simple try to buy from Brands you trust and thoroughly
read reviews especially if it's a more expensive purchase but if you can it's
typically safer to buy certified especially as the usbif is finally
ditching those terrible labels that say things like USB 3.2 gen 2x2 and just
putting USB with the speed beside it wow
and that's fantastic because one thing is easy to understand for even the most
technically challenged Among Us bigger numbers are better I love those big big
beautiful numbers there they are and thanks to you big beautiful viewer for
watching like the video if you like it dislike it if you disliked it check out
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