system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What was that short barrel at the end of old USB cables, and why are they gone now?
gpt
it's a ferrite bead, which is used to mitigate the effects of the inductance of the wire running through it. 

We don't need them nowadays on USB cables because we use better manufacturing techniques that better match the 'differential pair' of twisted wires, and better controllers at either end that can cope with a little interference.