Was USB-A always intended to be reversible?

We all know one of the problems (one might say major UX design flaws) with USB-A connectors is that it is difficult to know which way is the top leading to users plugging connectors in upside down.

Recently, reversible USB-A connectors have found their way to market. But the fact that this is possible leads one to wonder if USB-A had from the start been designed as a reversible standard but for whatever reason it was only implemented now. Is this the case?

Question: was USB-A's symmetry supposed to be part of a reversible design that was not implemented until now? I.e. , it's not a bug but a feature?