Published May 11, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT Oliver has been writing about mobile and the wider technology space for more than a decade with bylines on TechRadar, CNET, Inverse, and more. With experience covering breaking news, writing in-depth product reviews, and sharing more than a few opinions, Oliver has been the go-to expert for some of the biggest publications both online and in print. When it debuted in 1996, USB (Universal Serial Bus) promised to fix a very real issue that computer users had dealt with for far too long. By offering a truly universal cable , it was hoped that computing would be simplified at a time when the personal computer was coming into its own. And it did, to a point, but fast-forward to 2014, and it took USB-C to really make cables universal. But, as ever, there's a catch. While the advent of USB-C gave us a new connector that could be used in all manner of devices, the cables themselves are a different kettle of fish.…