getting sparkfun "TINY programmer" to work--is USB cable really needed?

First time I purchased sparkfun.

Went through the programmer guide–didn’t work. Not with Linux CentOS7 on Lenovo T430; not with MacBook Pro Mac OS 10.9.

Same error

Could not find USB device 0x1781/0xc9f

I have used arduinos a lot (UNO, NANO etc) so hmmm why not? On line: no drivers needed. So it’s probably not that.

–saw this page:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/po … 75158b4567

I was plugging the tiny board directly into my linux laptop USB, and also my Mac USB. Didn’t work. The page suggests trying a different cable and it made me thing, hey I am not using a cable at alL!!

Once I put in an M-F usb extension cable it worked immediately.

Is there some reason I can’t plug the TINY PROGRAMMER directly into the side of the laptop? I can’t think of why–why would using an extension cable matter? Do any of you out there know? or was this just a fluke?