No USB ports on Ipad!
in [Mac Systems]
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From: Kelsey Bjarnason on 27 Mar 2010 20:15 [snips] nospam wrote: > when i see people using laptops, they rarely, if ever, have something > plugged into a usb port. the few times they do, it's usually a 3g data > card, which is built into the ipad (and has substantially cheaper usage > fees). That may be true with Apple machines, it ain't true here. My machine regularly has a USB wireless mouse, an external drive (which happens to be eSata, but supports USB), and a 16Gb USB key hanging off it. The wife's netbook has the USB mouse, USB key and a USB DVD drive attached pretty much all the time. Plus a USB printer, though she swaps the key and printer back and forth - only so many USB slots. We each have the same basic problem: too few USB ports per machine. Yes, we could get USB hubs, but that's not the point... the notion people don't use USB on laptops is laughable. Oh, and yes, we also have a USB roaming wireless network adapter, which we share about. And let's not forget the USB phones, which we transfer contacts, photos, etc, to and from. Or the USB digital camera. Or the...
From: nospam on 27 Mar 2010 20:57 In article <6mj287-tmq.ln1(a)spanky.localhost.net>, Kelsey Bjarnason <kbjarnason(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > when i see people using laptops, they rarely, if ever, have something > > plugged into a usb port. the few times they do, it's usually a 3g data > > card, which is built into the ipad (and has substantially cheaper usage > > fees). > > That may be true with Apple machines, it ain't true here. it's not just macs. > My machine regularly has a USB wireless mouse, an external drive (which > happens to be eSata, but supports USB), and a 16Gb USB key hanging off > it. doesn't sound like a laptop. nice try though. > The wife's netbook has the USB mouse, USB key and a USB DVD drive > attached pretty much all the time. Plus a USB printer, though she swaps > the key and printer back and forth - only so many USB slots. ok sample size of one, or two if you also count yours. how is that representative of the millions of users out there? hint: it isn't. > We each have the same basic problem: too few USB ports per machine. > Yes, we could get USB hubs, but that's not the point... the notion > people don't use USB on laptops is laughable. step outside your house for a change. look at people who use laptops in coffee shops, airports, hotels, conferences, schools, workplaces, etc. rarely are they using usb devices plugged into their laptops. ignore the ones using macs if you want. doesn't matter. and as for people who plug a mouse into a laptop, that's mainly because the laptop has a shitty trackpad or other pointing device. in other words, that's not a feature.
From: -hh on 27 Mar 2010 21:03 On Mar 27, 8:15 pm, Kelsey Bjarnason <kbjarna...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > [snips] > > nospam wrote: > > when i see people using laptops, they rarely, if ever, have something > > plugged into a usb port. the few times they do, it's usually a 3g data > > card, which is built into the ipad (and has substantially cheaper usage > > fees). > > That may be true with Apple machines, it ain't true here. YMMV. It comes down to utilization factors. > My machine regularly has a USB wireless mouse, an external drive (which > happens to be eSata, but supports USB), and a 16Gb USB key hanging off > it. > > The wife's netbook has the USB mouse, USB key and a USB DVD drive > attached pretty much all the time. Plus a USB printer, though she swaps > the key and printer back and forth - only so many USB slots. > > We each have the same basic problem: too few USB ports per machine. > Yes, we could get USB hubs, but that's not the point... the notion > people don't use USB on laptops is laughable. Our telecommuting Windows laptop typically has 3 connections: power, ethernet and a USB mouse. Of course, this makes sense from the perspective that its going to be running for 8 hours. On the road, its pretty strictly zero hardwired connections other than power. Used to use USB thumb drives fairly occasionally, but a security vulnerability had IT slam the door on all use of them 1.5 years ago. > Oh, and yes, we also have a USB roaming wireless network adapter, which > we share about. > > And let's not forget the USB phones, which we transfer contacts, photos, > etc, to and from. > > Or the USB digital camera. > > Or the... YMMV. My Blackberry and other phones doesn't really cross with the laptop much, except when it is in its docking station. The rest of the cellphones aren't "smart" phones to need such a hookup. For the digital camera, I've occasionally borrowed my Blackberry recharging cable to do double duty, but most times not: when on the road, there's not really enough hours in the day to start to play with post-processing, so I just carry alternative means of data storage until I can be back home. Currently, I can store around 60GB without even bothering to pull out my redundant digital wallets, which are by today's standards old and small: they only add another 40GB. There's no doubt that a hardwired port can be beneficial today. The real question is to what degree is it appropriate for the device in question and the task at hand .. there are going to be applications where the shortcoming simply isn't that big of a deal. Too much of this debate regarding the iPad is because people are trying to shoehorn force-fit it into the current paradigm / categorization of a laptop or netbook, which IMO is a significant error. FWIW, I'm not trying to claim that the iPad is some Godsend device. Frankly, I'm non-committal and still trying to figure out if it is worth the price tag, mostly because I'm not fully convinced that I know the answer to the question of "What is it?" - - it is, admittedly, intriguing ... but that alone doesn't make it compelling. -hh
From: Kelsey Bjarnason on 27 Mar 2010 21:01 -hh wrote: > ZnU <z...(a)fake.invalid> wrote: >> �chrisv <chr...(a)nospam.invalid> wrote: >> > >> > And does using a USB port imply "dangling cables"? >> >> Probably. Unless you're just using it for some sort of wireless dongle, >> in which case it's an even worse kludge, since whatever device that >> dongle is talking to should probably just have Bluetooth or WiFi. > > Well, its either that, or the USB drive which is going to be attached > with Duct Tape :-) > > In general, its pretty silly to suggest that its critical to have a > USB port and then claim that you're never going to have any "dangly" > problems because you're not going to ever plug anything into it. Could you kindly point out where the cables are on my USB key? I've never noticed them before.
From: JEDIDIAH on 27 Mar 2010 20:49
On 2010-03-27, -hh <recscuba_google(a)huntzinger.com> wrote: > > > JEDIDIAH <j...(a)nomad.mishnet> wrote: >> nospam <nos...(a)nospam.invalid> wrote: >> >> >> >> > In article <hobnu6$4if$0...(a)news.t-online.com>, Peter Köhlmann >> ><peter-koehlm...(a)t-online.de> wrote: >> >> >> Thats fine. Please list the makes of cameras which will connect to the >> >> iPad via WiFi >> >> > any camera with an eye-fi card, any nikon or canon dslr with a wifi >> >> ...sounds like the cameras have to make up for the fact that the >> so-called computing device is rediculously crippled. > > Or is it that since they also come with USB ... for computers > "crippled" by not having WiFi? Like I said before. Wifi is insecure, slow and unreliable. Then there's that whole "standard of the month" nonsense. Have they finalized the most recent one yet? Have they started working on the next one? [deletia] -- Unauthorized distribution of your work is going to happen. That ||| particular genie left the bottle a long time ago. You can either be / | \ cool about it and possibly gain from it or big the biggest jerk you can be and alienate potential fans. |