5 May
2012
5 May
'12
3:29 p.m.
On 5/5/2012 1:15 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
That's not the point I was making, and you know it. (Or would have
known it if you'd read two sentences down before making the above
comment...) There are very few occasions on which I need more than a
couple of devices connected at the same time. And thanks to USB's
support for hot-swapping, if I do need to connect swap something else in
it's pretty trivial to do so.
Well then it wouldn't be *portable* anymore, would it?
In the case of the subnotebook (or any modern laptop), it saves
connector space. If my subnotebook had two PS/2 ports just in the event
that I wanted to use an external keyboard & mouse (which is rare), it'd
still have to (since people expect it these days) have a USB port or
two. The USB port(s) can perform the same functions as the PS/2 ports
in this case (i.e. making it possible to use an external
keyboard/mouse). This saves space, and saves money that would be spent
on (effectively redundant, and special-use only) connectors.
On my desktop I still (for the moment) have a PS/2 keyboard port and
it's fine there, space is not an issue. (This is on a PC motherboard
bought in 2010). I'll keep using PS/2 one way or another until I die or
my Omnikey Ultra does :).
- Josh
On 5/4/2012
12:19 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
I have a device on my desk here
that's the size of a small paperback
book; it's a subnotebook computer. I can connect keyboards, mice,
scanners, printers, serial ports, parallel& scsi ports, cameras,
calculators, phones, GPIB interfaces, external sound, video capture,
hard drives, usb memory sticks, card readers and dozens of other things
that I'm not able to bring to mind in the 20 seconds it took me to type
To add
all those at once you must have external hubs (since USB is not a
bus), which will increase the volume somewhat. Because
it's clearly simpler to have a single bus and lose the
specialised connectors. Which PCs eventually did (long after Apple did).
Firslty
whatever USB is, it is certainly not a bus.
Secondly, how is it simpler? It certainly makes the electronics a lot
more complicated (USB being a more complex protocol than the one for a
PS/2 keybord or mouse). And I don;t think it makes things much simpler
for the user. After all, there are specific conenctors for the mains
input and the video output (VGA or DVI or whatever), why is a specific
connector for the keyboard so complciated?
Actually, i have a similar-sized machine here. It fits in my pocket
(normal size pocket) runs off interal primary cells, and can be programmed
in 2 high level languages and assembly languate. It can be connected to
external disk drives, tape drives, RS232 ports, parallel ports, HPIB
devices, printers, pen plotters, video display units measuring
instruments, other similar machines, and so. It can easily conenct ot 31
devies at a time, ther are ways to make it do rather more. Oh, and did I
mention it doesn't need external hubs to do this.
No, it's not USB. The thing is getting on for 28 years old...
Yes, HPIB and HPIL are very very useful and very cool and were far ahead
of their time. Perhaps if it had caught on in the personal computer
space (outside of the world of HP), it would have beaten out USB. Alas,
it did not work out that way. USB is perhaps not as elegant, but you
can see that it fills a need -- perhaps a need that HPIB could have
filled "universally" :) in an alternate universe. (With smaller
connectors and less bulky cabling :)).
that -- all to
one of the pair of USB ports on the side. (No, not all
at the same time, smartass :)). If this device had a specialized
connector for each (or even most) of these it'd be completely covered in
them and probably weigh 30 pounds :).
FIrstly, what would be the problem if it did
waigh 30 pounds nad lived in
a 19" rack module?
Secondly, I assume you normally conenct a mouse and keyboard to it.
It's a subnotebook, they're both built-in. I have on occasion hooked up
an external keyboard and mouse, but it's not the primary usage mode for
this device.
That
takes up 2 USBN ports,wheter built into the machine or on an external
huyb. The volume of a SUB connector is comparable to that for a mini-DIN
connecotr. SO it souldn't take up any more space to have PS/2 interfaces
for the keyboard and mouse.
Then why not have 4 USB ports instead of just the two USB + two PS/2?
Even more flexibility for those times that I don't need a keyboard/mouse.
This is the advantage of USB for modern
computing. No, it's not
You misunderstand me. Iam not quesitoning (yet)
whether USB is a good
idea for external memory drvies, or anything like that. I am specidicalyl
askign why it is a good thing for keybaords and mice. So far nobody has
managed to justivy that.
-tony