On Fri, May 04, 2012 at 04:47:52PM -0700, Fred Cisin wrote:
> And why
is this a Good Thing? My point is that it's to be exptected that
> a modern PC will have a keyboard and mouse connected to it. Why does it
> make any difference to the used if those can be connected to 2 of the USB
> ports or to 2 specific connectors for them?
On Fri, 4 May 2012, Toby Thain
wrote:
You've already asked that.
and it has yet to be ANSWERED.
NOW imagine that a whole bunch of unforeseen
devices - printers,
cameras, touch sensitive tablets, disks, modems, e-book readers, 'pen'
drives, portable audio players, ... - arrives. Are they meant to use
PS/2? Are they supposed to have individual connectors? USB is no more a
silly idea than RS-232 is.
I had numerous devices, including printers, cameras, mice, and modems
connected to my serial ports.
I had numerous devices, including printers, disk drives, SCSI adapters,
inter-computer communications, and EPROM programmer ("Sunshine") connected
to my parallel ports.
I still don't fully grasp the magnitude of the "problem" that the
"solution" addressed.
One standard (the "universal" part in UBS) protocol - and cabling setup -
for a lots of things. Mass storage (from USB sticks to memory card readers
to harddisks), serial interfaces (the CuBox is recently aquired has Micro-
USB for the console connection), media interfaces like sound and video
(video cameras, TV sticks). Even phones (Android Debug Bridge runs over
USB as well).
And if you run out of ports, just stick on an USB hub (of course, there are
still bandwidth limits).
Although I will acknowledge that the USB designers did
adequately address
some of the "proliferation of standards" issues in RS232 cabling.
Also, just three + one very different connectors: standard, mini and
micro plus the host connector.
And these days, USB also helps clean up the mobile phone charger mess:
an increasing number of new phones just use USB with a micro USB connector
instead of every phone needing its very own wallwart with a very special
connector.
Kind regards,
Alex.
--
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and
looks like work." -- Thomas A. Edison