Special thanks to guest contributor Brittany Szulis for this post.

There are certain products in the industry that are so simplistic sounding yet, they can be confusing little buggers.  USB cables fall under this category for me. Anyone else? In my opinion, USB cables are such a minuscule product, but the truth is we use them everyday so let’s get to know them shall we?

To get strarted I did what any young professional would do and I went to Wikipedia to see what USB stood for first of all.  Here’s what I found:

” The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a standard for peripheral devices. It began development in 1994 by a group of seven companies: Compaq, DEC, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC and Nortel. USB was intended to make it fundamentally easier to connect external devices to PCs by replacing the multitude of connectors at the back of PCs, addressing the usability issues of existing interfaces, and simplifying software configuration of all devices connected to USB, as well as permitting greater bandwidths for external devices. The first silicon for USB was made available by Intel in 1995.”

Thanks for the confusion Wikipedia… Blah, blah, blah… What the heck are they all used for? That is what matters after all…  isn’t it?

USB A Male to A Male Cable: The “Straight forward”.  Use for hard drive enclosures, printers, modems, cameras. Ok, that wasn’t SO bad.

USB A to 4-pin Mini-b Cable: The “Lost and Found”.   A practical replacement for a lost cable and excellent to keep as a spare. Use for many digital camera models, cell phones, MP3 players, PDAs and other mini-USB devices. Hey! I love taking pictures!

Panel-Mount USB 2.0 A Female to B Male Cable: The “Bob the Builder”.  Ever wonder how they play those annoying infomercials over and over again at mall kiosks? They used this guy!  Build USB 2.0 functionality into a custom system with a secure and efficient fixed port. Provide access to a PC, printer, projector, or other USB device with minimal exposure or repositioning. From basic port reroutes in a PC, to connections at podiums and kiosks, a panel-mount cable is the right solution to keep your connection clean and professional. So that’s how that works! Hmmm interesting.

USB 2.0 A/B Cable: “The classic” Ideal for keyboards, mice, modems, printers, and other USB peripherals. Which one is like the other? This one reminds me of the first one! Yay!

USB 2.0 A Male to Micro-USB A Male Cable: “Mini-me” Connect to cellphones, GPS systems, PDAs, grab and go devices and digital cameras by using the micro-USB connection on your computer or other USB device. The micro-USB connector is smaller and thinner than the previous USB Mini-b standard while offering better performance. Aww, it’s so cute!

Don’t worry, it’s ok to print this out and file it away for a rainy day when someone asks you to buy USB cables for the office!

The most common style of USB mini-B connector is the 5-pin version. Because of it’s compact form factor, this connector is widely used by manufacturers of consumer devices, such as cellphones, MP3 players, and digital cameras.

The picture to the left demonstrates the difference between the full size USB and mini version

Did you Know the USB connector in your PC or laptop uses only two conductors to send data, and another two conductors for 5 Volt DC power and ground?

This means that USB cables can be extremely thin and flexible, and the cable assemblies are very easy to manufacture. This helps keep the cost of USB connectivity down, and helps contribute to the dominance of USB as the primary interface for computer peripherals.