Connectors: A History of Their Technology?

dpbsmith asks: "It seems like a simple engineering problem--construct a device for easily and safely connecting several dozen wires at the same time--but the variety and creativity in their design over the years has been amazing, and, clearly there have been trends, fashions, and styles. In the fifties and sixties, virtually all connectors were roughly similar to the D-Sub design used for RS-232. A stiff, straight pin engaged a springy socket that contacted and bore against it on all sides. There were minor variations in shape and placement; the Amphenol Blue Ribbons (think Centronics), the connectors into which circuit boards engaged, but they were all variations on a theme. I was absolutely astounded the first time I saw a modular RJ-11 connector. Cheap, effective, and utterly unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Who invented these? Western Electric? Recently, we have the USB connector and the Firewire connector, obviously members of the same family (and a cheap-and-cheesy-seeming family it seems); on the other hand, my telephone and my digital camera have connectors that are very small and snap in with a positive lock that must be released with a squeeze, obviously yet another fundamentally different design. What do people know about the design, history, and engineering behind connectors over the years? Is it all hidden away, trade secrets of the connector companies, or is their a story that can be told?"

Apple's connectors

[CySurflex]

Ben Brown obviously likes big connectors http://www.benbrown.com/switch/ [benbrown.com]

connector genders

[lingqi]

I was six when i first heard of the term "male" and "female" connectors. Even though I keep pestering my dad about
1) which one is male / female, and
2) why they name it something stupid like that

he just kept "umm... ahhh"-ing and never answered.

I was like 17 when it finally dawned on me why they named it that way. ha! then it all made sense.

moral of the story are:
a) who says electrical engineers / connector designers are not perverted?
b) to save yourself trouble, don't talk about male/femail connectors in front of little kids.

awkward transition to...

[jukal]

Now I know how to explain my kids how babies are made. Look, son, here is the RS-232 and it's counterpart, here is RJ45, you plug it in like this - now this, my son, is something really special - a RJ11.

When you connect this with the other gender, these tiny little bursts of electricity flow into the female connector. The female then processes the information and squirts the results out via a RS-232 connector - this may be messy....next day, son, we will cover gender changers.

Re:The eternal question...

[quakeroatz]

Huh? Try Barrel Nut Connector. That's what BNC, in the RF sense, has always stood for.

Yes I'm sure there's a Bulgarian Nympho Club, but thats beside the point.

Ok, so let me get this straight

[Raul654]

It might be easier if we switched from 60Hz to something around 20kHz.

You want to overclock the power lines?

Re:connector genders

[K8Fan]

The real mystery is why a female panel connector is called a "jack".

I remember being embarrassed the first time I had to explain the difference between "male" and "female" connectors when I was in high school.

Re:connector genders

[Anonymous Coward]

Geeze, maybe if people didn't go "ummm ahhh" whenever sex comes up, it wouldn't be so perverted. I mean, we're all created through sex, you'd think we could talk about it frankly.

Personally, I just call them CUNTS and COCKS (as in, hey mom, you're having trouble with your iMac? Make sure the COCK of the mouse is firmly inserted into the CUNT of the keyboard.) What could be simpler?

Re:Power supply adapters and plugs...

[feepness]

This reminds me of a hopefully not-too-offtopic joke.

Two officers (let's have them be British and American) are in a restroom taking a leak. The American finishes and walks to the door, skipping the sink on the way out. The Brit says "You know, chap, in the British military, they teach us to wash after using the restroom." The American responds "That so? Interesting. In the US military they teach us not to piss on our hands."

I've never heard of anyone shocking themselves, despite how "easy" it may appear.

Re:Ok, so let me get this straight

[GLX]

You mean like this? [bbspot.com]

"Lance Hatler, was irritated with the "measly 60 Hz" that the electric company fed into his house and decided he could do better. "I thought my overclocked computer system is pretty sweet. Why can't I apply the same principle to my house? I mean besides the fire code," questioned Hatler.

After several trips to the emergency room for massive electric shocks, Hatler's house now runs at a blazing fast 900 MHz. "

Re:Connectors in my PC

[tom_newton]

Bah.. on your scale, i'd score BNC connectors a 13 - you have to consider play value here - I challenge anyone who's ever built a 10base2 net *not* to have built castles/spaceships/whatever out of t-pieces and terminators.. man those things feel gooood going together (shiver) ;]

On a similar note.. you gotta hand it to ZIF processor sockets.. those with the "klunky" levers.. a real feeling of staisfaction/amazement that they dont bust up the teensy lil' pins!

Re:Connectors in my PC

[Tablizer]

Your forgot one:

• Human sex organs - 7. Nice, but it would be better if the male had it's own female connector slot and double-jointed-ness in the pin for the the times that male can't find an opposing connector.

Ask Google

[Keck]

I'm guessing from this last Ask Slashdot that the section exists solely for the Chinese and other censored citizens who can no longer access google.com ... I propose that we replace the Ask Slashdot submission form with a cgi interface to google, it could act like a proxy. This would solve the problem quite neatly.

Don't have the right connector?

[msheppard]

Cut both cables with scissors.
Strip the wires about an inch (with your teeth of course).
Twist the right ones together.

Electrical tape and solder optional.

M@

Re:(yes) Re:British Naval Connector?

[HughsOnFirst]

I had no idea that there was any need to connect anything to British Navels. I had an English girlfriend 20 years ago and don't remember anything about any _electrical_ connections anywhere. Seemed like a pretty standard bellybutton to me. It this part of some new broadband in the womb initiative?