> Making USB reversible to begin with would have necessitated twice as many wires and twice as many circuits, and would have doubled the cost
Not really. I've got a cable which is USB 2.0 type A one side, Micro-B the other side and both the sides are perfectly reversible. It's already been many years since I've bought it and it still serves me reliably for both charging and data needs. The manufacturer didn't even have to change the standard to produce a reversible cable working great with all the old devices whose manufacturers never heard reversible USB cables exist.
Not really. I've got a cable which is USB 2.0 type A one side, Micro-B the other side and both the sides are perfectly reversible. It's already been many years since I've bought it and it still serves me reliably for both charging and data needs. The manufacturer didn't even have to change the standard to produce a reversible cable working great with all the old devices whose manufacturers never heard reversible USB cables exist.