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| Universal Seat Belt |
 Title text: The plug fits really snugly, so it should be safe in a crash. |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a USB PORT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. |
A sequel to 2493: Dual USB-C, this comic shows another of Randall's line of "Cursed Connectors." Randall presents the "Universal Seat Belt", a pun on the Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.
USB connectors are mostly designed for free and unrestricted insertion and removal. There may be a slight use of the internal and external bumps and dimples to provide a tactile indication of being engaged or disengaged, but there are usually no facilities to prevent a connector being easily pulled out of even a port being actively used - the OS can do no more than complain that a device has been removed without first ensuring proper logical unmapping of the resource (which in turn may have to await a current session of data transfer being completed or aborted) or warn that a "delayed write" has failed.
Car seat-buckles, on the other hand, have very definite requirements to not come loose unless intentionally and mechanically released, in order to keep the passenger safely anchored to the seat.
The title text claims that the seat belt is secure in the case of a crash. This is another pun, as seat belts protect passengers in a car crash while USB ports are rated to protect devices in the event of a computer malfunction ("crash").
One possible use for the USB data connector might be to give a certain degree of 'proof' that the belt is plugged in, although that functionality is fairly well covered by current anchor-point sensors that (combined with seat-occupancy sensors that may respond to the weight of a seated person) can trigger dashboard lights and possibly warning sounds in vehicles as necessary to prompt correct usage of restraining belts. That system does not usually need an electronic data connection between anchor and belt, an anchor-side switch should suffice, and it would still require a mechanical gripping/hooking method to make it of any use to be engaged in the first place.
Transcript
- [The two ends of a seatbelt are shown next to each other, but the seatbelt connectors are replaced with a USB-A plug and port. Above is a title and below is a label.]
- Cursed Connectors #65
- the Universal Seat Belt
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