It turns out to be cheaper and easier to aggregate multiple serial links than to run a wide parallel bus. Practically every modern high-speed interconnect uses multiple aggregated serial links -- USB, Ethernet, SATA, PCIe, DDR3+, DVI+HDMI+DP+LVDS, etc, etc.
> why can’t we just switch to optical cables already
Too expensive. A big part of USB's dominance in the mid-90's was that it was way cheaper than the alternatives of the time.
Thunderbolt was originally designed for optical interconnects.
> Just use the 3.5 mm audio plug
It's physically too large for current and upcoming designs.
It turns out to be cheaper and easier to aggregate multiple serial links than to run a wide parallel bus. Practically every modern high-speed interconnect uses multiple aggregated serial links -- USB, Ethernet, SATA, PCIe, DDR3+, DVI+HDMI+DP+LVDS, etc, etc.
> why can’t we just switch to optical cables already
Too expensive. A big part of USB's dominance in the mid-90's was that it was way cheaper than the alternatives of the time.
Thunderbolt was originally designed for optical interconnects.
> Just use the 3.5 mm audio plug
It's physically too large for current and upcoming designs.
I miss TOSLINK.