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The Doom of Wired Peripherals
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."
I'll jump on the bandwagon when we can get rid of the power cable. When is power over wireless coming to computer peripherals?
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Until your batteries die, or your devices start to interfere with eachother, or you realise that your "Blazingly fast" wireless internet is actually pretty slow and becomes very slow as soon as anything gets between you and your access point.
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?
Everytime I've worked with wireless technology it's been flakey. It's gotten to the point that if friend of mine calls me up and asks for help with their "wireless network", I show up with a roll of Cat5e, RJ45 plugs and a crimper. For 99% of wireless stuff, I just refuse to spend any time trying to get this technology to work. If I want to set somthing up, I want to be able to set it up ONCE and never have to worry about it again.
I've yet to see any wireless implementation that is reliable as wired. Until that gets fixed wires are here to stay.
No, I'm not interested at all in wireless. I'm wired at home, and wired at my business. Why? I'm a big fan of speed and reliability, both of which are always sacrificed with wireless anything. Wireless may be cute if all you're doing is checking your MySpace account and shopping and doing other such trivial things. Nobody in their right mind who relies on their computers for earning a living would do wireless.
i got the Logitech diNovo - great mouse/keyboard set - it isn't the blue tooth version and i get about 6 months on the keyboard and about 1 1/2 months on the mouse.. and i use it 8 hours a day 6 days a week. (note that i use monster 2150 mAh rechargable battries.. normaly ones suck)
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
Got to agree - I have had a wired optical mouse sitting at this desk for 3 years and I have never had to even bother with it. Changing batteries every month - sod that. And before anyone mentions rechargeable batteries with a dock unit - rechargeable capacities decrease and eventually die.
The throwaway culture takes another step forward for nothing but sheer and utter laziness of humans.
You see, the neat thing about the world is that we don't have to completely get rid of something just because a newer way of doing it comes along.
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.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
Yeah, cabling is a pain, but we should be looking at ways to reduce the power consumption of our electronics, not boost it.
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.
Clear, Dark Skies
...that Wired magazine will become obsolete?
I'm wondering if it's really progress if everything we own are wireless, doesn't anybody think about the load of batteries it will take to make this equipment work?
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
I've got an MX1000 (which is really quite nice, and I even use it left-handed) which recharges when you stick it in the base station. The only problem is that I now have two cables, where a wired mouse would have one – there's the USB from the base station to the computer, plus a power cable from the wall to the base station. It doesn't help the tangled-cables-under-the-desk problem at all. But it's far more practical than a wired mouse for clubbing people on the head.
Batteries are only part of the problem with wirelessness. There's factors like performance and reliability that go to hell when you lose the wires.
(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.
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