The Doom of Wired Peripherals 438
techie writes "Is the doom of wired peripherals near? According to an article on CoolTechZone.com, it sure seems that way and Apple is leading the way. Quote: "Device cables are becoming a thing of the past, and that development couldn't come soon enough. We're ready to unplug, and we want to make the most of it. Apple has recognized this desire for consolidation and the benefits of a wireless lifestyle, and they've reacted effectively. When the iMac was first introduced, people went gaga over the fact that the monitor, computer, and speakers were all in one enclosure, thus eliminating the need for two bulky pieces of hardware and multiple cables. Just when you thought that was incredible enough, WiFi comes along and gives us blazingly fast Internet connections through the air, and Bluetooth rises up to allow all of our devices to sync with one another and the operating system without any wires."
Not quite (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Funny)
Get with the times, Apple and others.
Re:Not quite (Score:4, Insightful)
Let's just say that as soon as the coils of the transformer are no longer actually *inside* of each other as they are in such electric toothbrushes, efficiency goes way down. Also in the case of those electric toothbrushes, efficiency was way down to begin with. I used to have one of those, it was a perfect example of inductive heating...
Re:Not quite (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not quite (Score:3, Informative)
Once the plasma path is established it's very low resistance. The surge is several hundred thousand to million amps. It's more like 10-200 megawatts. A big strike might be a gigawatt.
Re:Not quite (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Interesting)
Douglas Adams (yes, that Douglas Admas) wrote a piece called "Dongly Things" [douglasadams.com] (it's a bit dated). He agrees with you.
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Interesting)
peace
Synk
Re:Not quite (Score:4, Interesting)
If Mr. Edison thought a little harder, maybe he wouldn't perspire so much.
Tesla never got the credit he deserved... sometimes the world needs wild-eyed visionaries.
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Informative)
-Eric
Any site named "thinkgeek" must be accurate, right?
Re:Not quite (Score:5, Insightful)
I've passed on wireless keyboards and mice mainly because I don't want to generate more battery waste which ranks up there as among the most offensive types of garbage we accumulate.
Re:Not quite (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Not quite (Score:2, Interesting)
I'll jump on the bandwagon when we can get rid of the power cable. When is power over wireless coming to computer peripherals?
A few years ago I read about a technology that does intend to get rid of the power cables. It's a mat you can plug in and then place on the desk. Any compatible device placed on top of the mat is then able to draw power directly from that. The interesting thing is that you can place several devices on it at once, each one draws the appropriate voltage and current for its operation
Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Informative)
Fricken' batteries dieing all the time. Who needs it?
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Informative)
Also some of the new wireless none charging mice last months on a set of batteries. You can generally see the charge stats on the product description page.
Watch out for wireless keyboards as well, some of em last months one I recently accidently bought for the office last less than a week.
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:4, Informative)
so 100%-1% 99%-.99% 98.01%-.9801% 97.0299%-.970299%
it is like the problem of getting half way to a point every day - you never get there.. sure the batteries will get to a zero state but it will take a lot longer than you think.. It isn't voodoo magic it is just real life. and the quality of the battery really makes a difference
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:3)
Built-in bluetooth in your laptop and all peripherals, then easy recharging bases with quality batteries. Manufacturers who get all three of those points will have my business.
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:2)
A neat idea, not catching on though.
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:2)
I have a wireless mouse with a chargerat home. Basically, it stays in the charger all the time. The mouse lasts less than an hour before the battery dies.
And it causes interference with the baby monitor.
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:3, Informative)
Having the convenience of being able to use the keyboard and mouse in more casual positions, like leaning back in the chair with the keyboard in my lap, without worrying about the mess of cables is worth having to remember to st
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, that, and knowing how I am with the TV remote control, I'd end up tearing apart my room trying to find a mouse that most likely found its way to the fridge...
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Insightful)
The throwaway culture takes another step forward for nothing but sheer and utter laziness of humans.
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:4, Funny)
He lived in a wireless house
He had a wireless wife
Who lived a wireless life
He had a wireless son
Who had much wireless fun
He typed 1000 lines
To produce this stupid rhyme
-Eric
Forget mice/mouses (Score:2)
Had a vireless mouse, too, and was very unhappy with it because of the batteries. However, I do have devices, which have their own power supplies, and still need to connect to the computer via USB ports. I see no reason why those devices couldn't be wireless. This includes printers, scanners, speakers, and external drives. I started out with two built-in USB ports; recently I had to expand to 12 ports. All I should need are two ports: for my jump d
Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:2)
Wireless ____ sucks (Score:5, Insightful)
(Non-technical) people keep suggesting that the college I work for "go wireless" for our networking... not grasping that we'd be replacing a switched 100Mbps line to every computer (with 1Gbps only a wiring-closet upgrade away) with shared wireless spectrum that tops out at 54Mbps and requires encryption, access limits, etc. People ask why I never call anyone from my mobile phone, and instead go find a landline instead... it's because I want to be able to hear and be heard. Why do you think most of the civilized world switched from wireless television to cable?
Buy a clue people: in almost any category of technology, wireless sucks compared to wired. And getting rid of a slender cable from my mouse or keyboard to my monitor is not worth it.
Re:Wireless ____ sucks (Score:3, Informative)
Ehh.... I went from "rabbit-ears" T.V. to satellite Dish/DVR. Both are forms of wireless signal delivery. The DVR is set up to use cables, but the actual TV signal is broadcast to my TV via a wireless signal repeater, and the remote control is also wireless!
The only reaso
Re:Wireless ____ sucks (Score:3, Funny)
- Tash [tashcorp.net]
dont think so not yet (Score:2)
Re:dont think so not yet (Score:2, Interesting)
The paranoid still want wires. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The paranoid still want wires. (Score:5, Funny)
Oh hi neighbour... I was checking my network traffic yesterday, and I just want to ask you one thing: sexyponies.com ?
Which is all great... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wireless "everything" is hugely overhyped. Yes, a wireless mouse is nice because it doesn't snag, but why do I need a wireless printer? Or a wireless monitor? Or anything else that's largely static for its lifetime?
No No No No No, NO! (Score:2, Insightful)
It's quite embarrassing, you got it all wrong.
Please consume.
Re:Which is all great... (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, I like the idea of a wireless printer. Or keyboard. Or speakers. Or everything else, for that matter.
What I don't like is the complexity and security involved with all this wireless. If I could build myself an antenna next door and sniff your key strokes, or your mouse movements, or what you've printed, or even what's on you
Re:Which is all great... (Score:2)
Re:Which is all great... (Score:2)
Integration like the iMac isn't the best route to take either because when one thing breaks you're SOL. Plus you get no choice in components.
Stability and modularity is the way to go. I especially love products that understand the benefits and pitf
Re:Which is all great... (Score:2)
While it's slightly slower than my hardwired connection(I use both)it's still fast enough to play games online.
now with many connections it might slow down, but I limit those with WPA encryption.
Re:Which is all great... (Score:5, Insightful)
About 5 years ago when I was a lowly A+ certified computer shop tech, people would pay me crap loads of money to come out to their house and setup their already preconfigured computer. This usually involved me crawling under the desk and plugging color coordinated colors into their rights spots and then adjusting the cables so they look clean and then booting up the computer and then leaving.
Had our customers took about 90 seconds to look at the instructions and plugged the cables into the right hole (including the usb and parallel printer cables) they would have saved themselves quite a bit of money.
But... The average consumer has a real big aversion to plugging in cables even if there is no possible way to get the configuration wrong (well... I don't know how many times I've gotten calls about people getting the keyboard and mouse mixed up when they used the PS2 connectors)
So for the average user, being able to open the box and not plug in any wires (except maybe power) is a god send.
Re:Which is all great... (Score:2)
A wireless monitor would be great because then I could take it with me to someplace a little more comfortable, like those times when I'm just clicking on stuff (wireless mouse would come in handy here too) like reading webcomics or some long files. Those times when I really don't need to be sitting at a desk, don't need to be typing,
Re:Which is all great... (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe the peripherals are static, but the computer itself gets moved around (e.g. because it's a laptop)?
Wireless empowerment! (Score:3, Insightful)
USB is great because it's a) universal and b) able to power and charge quite a range of small devices.
Drop your PDA or ipod into a cradle and get a fast connection that's also charging your batteries.
When and if inductive charging (think Braun toothbrushes) becomes widespread, then maybe wireless will become sensible for most devices.
The USB toothbrush (Score:2, Funny)
Those USB toothbrushes are way kewl. Last week once, after I brushed my teeth, I got an email from a dental student in Thailand warning me about possible weakened enamel in one of my top molars.
Great so everything can be unreliable (Score:5, Insightful)
I've yet to see any wireless implementation that is reliable as wired. Until that gets fixed wires are here to stay.
Re:Great so everything can be unreliable (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Great so everything can be unreliable (Score:2)
Well - the article was talking about Apple [flickr.com]
Re:Great so everything can be unreliable (Score:3, Insightful)
"blazingly fast" (Score:5, Funny)
My internet connection over wired ethernet - 512Kbps
My internet connection over WiFi - 512Kbps
Wtf are they talking about?
BTW If you're chortling at my paltry ADSL speed -- which is the most I can get where I live -- do bear in mind that I live in remote, leafy... central London.
Re:"blazingly fast" (Score:3, Insightful)
12mbps-54mps
(When the nieghboors craps is not interfering with it and my roommate stops setting the cordless phone down right next to the router on the entertainment center.) The speed between the other two wired computers in the house.
1000mbps
Think that's unimportant, then you've never tried moving large amounts of files around or streaming movies while multiple wireless conections are active or being interefered
Re:"blazingly fast" (Score:2)
No, no wireless for me, thanks. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No, no wireless for me, thanks. (Score:2)
It depends. (Score:2)
Speed isn't the problem. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's due to the crowding of unlicensed bands. (Score:2)
But only so many devices can use the 900MHz, 2GHz, and 5GHz bands. Anyone who lives in suburbia or the city will know what I'm talking about.
It's not like your mouse will start moving on its own, but when its doing a CDMA backoff because your nextdoor neighbor's cordless phone is in use, you'll bang it in frustration when you miss that headshot.
And forget about IR. Line of sight? It's a joke.
Anything _interactive_ needs to be wired. Speakers, monitors, k
I admit I like wires better than batteries (Score:2)
WiFi is progress, wireless mice aren't.
Security (Score:3, Informative)
I think that is the reason for cables. I would love to be able to keep up, but when the cheap fibre to the house thing happens, my poor ole wireless wont keep up. The upgrade path is too steep. Maybe ain a few more months I will upgrade to something quicker.
Re:Security (Score:3, Insightful)
This comment shows where exactly your understanding of bandwidth measurements falls (hint: it's low on the scale). Please explain how 7Mbps is "way faster" than even the paltry 11Mbps that 802.11b offers? (And yes, I'm aware that these are the theoretical peaks for both, and that there is overhead in the various protocols and encryption schemes).
Bandwidth issues (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bandwidth issues (Score:3, Insightful)
The summary makes the point that Apple have managed to solve this problem by building the monitor and speakers into the computer. They even have the airport express solution if you want wireless hi-fi sound.
The monster laptops that are being produced are testament to this: some people don't care about ultimate portability, they just like the monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse a
Re:Bandwidth issues (Score:2)
I don't hate cables. (Score:5, Insightful)
I love having wireless networking, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't run cables through all the walls if I was building myself a house. I mostly use my cordless phone at home, but having one phone always attached to the wall means that I'll always be able to easily find it if I need it. I can't remember the battery on that phone ever dying on me.
We can have the wireless revolution without actually getting rid of all the wires. My printer can keep its wires. I don't move it very often. My iSight camera wire doesn't bother me at all. My USB hub would probably be far less useful if we got rid of all the wires, so let's not worry about that. I can't even remember the last time my keyboard's cable was a problem. My keyboard just sits there, on the keyboard drawer.
Rather than making parts of a non-mobile computer mobile, I'm much more interested in making already mobile computers better. Give us better PDA's, make a tablet computer that is useable and affordable. The cord on my mouse is not that big of a problem.
Wireless Monitor? (Score:2)
Once somebody shows me an affordable (less than $500 in this market), interference-free, non-carcinogenic device that can transmit 1080p 50 feet across a room without losing quality, THEN we will have reached a wireless nirvana.
As for the other peripherals, I still can't find a wireless keyboard
Stupid idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Wireless peripherals would have to draw independent power and be "always on" - guaranteeing that even when everything is shut off and you're on vacation in the islands, your home computer gear is still sucking power.
Re:Stupid idea. (Score:2)
From TFA (Score:2)
The revolution is over. None of this technology is even slightly new and it's all widespread. Pretty much every peripheral that can be untethered from a power supply has been. Even printers which need a power cord can be hooked up to wireless by the kind of people who've never heard of /. Wireless is old news and an article talking about a bluetooth mouse is redundant.
Whatever is happening for the future of wireless peripherals involves more peopl
Does this mean... (Score:5, Funny)
A word from Wonko the Sane (Score:2, Funny)
Redundant (Score:2)
Want to buy a Wireless Mouse/Keyboard? (Score:2)
I finally trashed them and bought a new mouse and keyboard which had a wire. Logitech something keyboard, and a G5 gaming mouse. The G5 is nice, the cable is covered in cloth and is very flexible.
I do u
No more wires? What if we WANT wires? (Score:2)
If I don't, I won't have any choice but to buy something wireless when comes the time to replace it. I don't want to worry about batteries, charging them and wireless security issues. Wired keyboard and mouse for me.
is it really progress (Score:5, Interesting)
Even if you use rechargeable batteries, i'm pretty sure a company that has over a 1000 employees will be very pleased to buy a pack of 4 AA batteries at 20$ plus another 25$ for the charger + the time for the I.T to go around spendind their time changing batteries instead of actual work.
I mean seriously, it may be practical but it is not cost effective or even realistic to imagine keyboard/mouse.
How many batteries does a keyboard take and a mouse? you'll ahve to spend 40$ every 3 months for each user so they dont have wires on their desktop?
i think not
No wireless keyboards for gamers (Score:3, Interesting)
When playing a videogame (NFS: Underground 2 for example) there is a delay between when the key is pressed and when the game reacts.
This is still quite unacceptable, and regrettably, i will be returning my beautiful keyboard
Hah. Let's look at this more closely. (Score:2, Insightful)
"tethered by a cumbersome cord"
"the power cord, which is as unobtrusive as can be"
How can a mouse cord that's 3mm in diameter be "cumbersome", and a powercord that's twice that thickness be "as unobtrusive as can be"?
"thus eliminating the need for two bulky pieces of hardware and multiple cables"
The hardware wasn't eliminated, just consolidated. BTW, the Mac started that consolidation with the Apple Lisa (I had one) and, later, the original Mac (I had one) a long time before iFruit.
"just look at the ab
Re:Hah. Let's look at this more closely. (Score:3, Insightful)
Eivind.
I'm going to file (Score:2)
I hit my head ROFL so someone will be hearing from my lawyer very soon!
Wireless is the bane of my existence. Everytime a tard goes someplace they can't connect I get a call. Everytime a tard can't sync a bluetooth phone I get a phone call. "I can't double click on my internet even with my special double clicky internet clicker thingie. Should I have gotten the one with the green blinkie light or maybe the blue one?".
F**K wi
if energy was only free (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, I see WIFI in notebooks as making sense...but on a desktop? I don't move my desktop...I ran CAT5 to my office and I get faster performance and don't waste electricity on the WAP or my box.
Same goes for peripherals like wireless printers...HUH? Is this a real problem?
Re:if energy was only free (Score:2)
Energy does not have to come from a power plant that polutes the environment... Hydro-electricity, windmills and solar panels are but a tiny part of non-oil energy sources. I find it appalling that so many people think that you need oil to make electricity...
I do, however, have the same point of view on the subject... a wired mouse and keyboard (and network, laptops aside) aren't "bad thi
Tesla thought it should be... (Score:2)
Centralizing the problem (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, I don't think you've factored in the extra cost in environmental resources and pollution to produce the cord that goes on non-wireless mice, not to mention the additi
I can't wait for Doom on wired peripherals! (Score:2)
Oh wait, we are talking about wired peripherals. Seriously, human factors engineering has to give way to functional design at some point. The fact that a whole machine can be put into a single box means nothing to me. I am all about the power of putting together your own machine an
Luddites are wired (Score:2)
Apple's Airport and Airport Express wall-wart provide transparent connections to peripherals and seamless coverage to your network.
Luddites fear not! Wifi sucks for audio-to-stereo. It is the timelag delay between the computer and stereo that is unacceptable. Wired is much better.
Every peripheral I own charges from USB (Score:2)
Can we make the tech cool AND useful?
Netgear MP101 Wireless Digital Music Players (Score:2)
Well wireless is fine but...
I own a number of Netgear MP101 Wireless Digital Music players so that I can play my MP3 collection anywhere in the house. Well, sort of anywhere, the kitchen is a nightmare, especially when the microwave oven is on. The Dining room is OK, most of the time, the lounge moderate. The study (where the server is) is great.
The moral of this is that I've invested in a wireless infrastructure, but I still wish I'd put in wires for some of the locations.
Re:Netgear MP101 Wireless Digital Music Players (Score:2)
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?p
I've an earlier version of the FM25b. I can listed to my MP3s on any $9 FM radio.
haha (Score:2)
Haha, he hasn't seen the back of my computer! 3.1 speakers alone generates five cables. Printer cable. Power cables. Even with wireless networking, the cable modem and the wireless router generate about four cables. Even a wireless keyboard has a cable to connect the wireless receiver to the ps/2 port. Monitor cable. The rat's nest back there is amazing. Every time I move my computer I have to disconnect every s
simplify with open standards (Score:2)
Slowly roasted (Score:2)
It's bad enough having my laptop warming my knees as I commute but having it also transmit radio waves at my nuts mere inches away isn't something I relish.
Re:Slowly roasted (Score:2)
or vice versa.
Where's Nikolai Tesla when we need him? (Score:2)
My portable Bluetooth mouse goes through charges so fast I've gone back to a wired mouse. My keyboard seems to last OK, but it's got 6 Alkaline double-A batteries in it, not two rechargable AAAs (high amp hour, right).
I tried using a combo-PDA-phone-MP3-player, but all that meant was that when I needed to use my PDA or phone I couldn't because I'd been playing music and it complained too much about being low on juice.
The wire
Wireless mice (Score:2)
I'm to the point that I'm looking for a wired mouse again, but it's gotta be GOOD. High DPI (adjustable if possible), good tracking even on less than ideal surfaces, doesn't need to EVER been cleaned, and works on all OS's without special drivers. Oh, and no Logitech. Their products (keyboards and mice) are almost as bad as th
iMac? 'scuse me?? (Score:3, Informative)
It was the Macintosh II [wikipedia.org] that started the 2-piece thing and color.
Remember your history.
Re:Hardware mfgs, please don't forget me. (Score:2)
Oldfashioned wires have their pluses.
And they're FAST. (Score:2)
Re:I doubt it... (Score:2)