When USB 1.0 was first introduced, all connectors it replaced had to be plugged in the right way up, so non-reversibility wasn't seen as a problem at all.
USB 1.0 needed to be cheap and simple to be adopted. Wrapping a bit of metal around a PCB was cheap and simple.
USB 1.0 needed to be cheap and simple to be adopted. Wrapping a bit of metal around a PCB was cheap and simple.