When USB-c came out the whole world just shifted to it seemingly overnight to me – how does this happen?
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Manufacturers decide. Then it snowballs into others following suit and boom, it becomes a de-facto standard. This usually happens when the new port/standard is better than the old one, allowing for faster data transfer rate etc. Think the format wars of the past, like when we switched from VHS to DVD, or LP’s to CD’s. Sometimes (and very often in the past), it ends up failing and falls into records of tech failures. Micro usb 3 for example never became popular due to it’s size and relative fragility.
It’s not just USB but many ports and tech related stuff. Things like the pen mouse, DIN connectors, etc.
For example, all keyboards today are a copy of the IBM model M keyboard. Before that, the key arrangement was all over the place and the only standard was the QWERTY arrangement of the letters.
There are moments when manufacturers also band together and decide on a standard to avoid consumer confusion and a format war. HDMI vs Display Port is a perfect example.
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