Problem with USB connector on bladeRF part 1: The Failure

A few weeks ago my bladeRF almost died. No, I did not electrocute it, I did not step on it, I did not try to make it work too hard, it did not suffer any kind of physical or intellectual abuse. All I did was to try to gently connect a USB cable. One moment I was pushing the plug into the connector, the next moment the plug was sitting completely loose in the metal frame.