The bulky cylindrical item on most USB and other data cables are not resistors. They are 'RF Chokes' to reduce or eliminate possible RF interference or noise from entering or leaving the connected devices since the data cables can act as antennae. Any interference received or transmitted can cause corrupt data, power surges, etc. which can adversely affect the devices connected or even nearby devices not physically connted.
There are also at least 2 different types of mini-USB connectors that can be called 'standard', and of course some non-standard versions that are specific to certain devices. Here is a good place to start if you're curious:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...Mini_and_Micro