So, are you saying that USB 4 should have purposely used a different connector to avoid confusion? Or are you saying that new devices should just be forced to charge and operate at the same speed as last-generation devices to make things more convenient for users?
Both of those seem like much worse options than the current way of doing things
We need to go back to labelling our cables. A USB "SS" imprint meant something. Current cables have no imprint, so it's going to be impossible to tell whether something's a USB 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0 or 3.2 2x2 cable or what capabilities it supports without plugging it in -- and the capability matrix is simply too complex to currently imprint, so that also needs to be solved, with only a few available capabilities listed (even if this means your 3m cable for computer->speakers costs $30 for capabilities you don't need). It's the only way to solve this mess while holding the connector constant.
And FYI, I hear it is to be called "USB4", not "USB 4". Why? Because reasons.