Originally Posted by
KF2M
On quality USB cables (cheap ones probably not) the USB symbol (the one with the 3 dots connected to big one) is either embossed or inked onto the top of the connectors. The downside is there are manufacturer's who mount the port upside down.
Precisely why USB-C is becoming the new standard. Or, rather, the standard, since there didn't seem to be one previously. Even if they were embossed 'correctly', the unit they were plugging in to wasn't necessarily marked. The dots work.