Apple: We need front mounted USB and Firewire!
How do expect to be the digital hub when its just hard to hook up a device?
every desktop mac should have a USB and firewire port mounted on the front and the powerbook should have at least 1 usb on the side somewhere.
powermac especially. kinda hard to use the ipod if you have a tower under a desk or something.
every desktop mac should have a USB and firewire port mounted on the front and the powerbook should have at least 1 usb on the side somewhere.
powermac especially. kinda hard to use the ipod if you have a tower under a desk or something.
Comments
we're totally on the same wavelength ... i just posted a similar comment on the '3 things you want to change to the apple lineup' thread ...
What i do with my cube is, i have a dr. bott hub plugged into my keyboard, and i leave a firewire cord dangling for my video camera ... not the best solution, but it works
<strong>kinda hard to use the ipod if you have a tower under a desk or something.</strong><hr></blockquote>What?? :eek: How dare you blaspheme Apple in such a vulgar way!
:cool:
<strong>what about a front mounted headphone jack too for audio nuts!!</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ditto that. I've memorized the "feel" of what and where the ports are in the back of my Mac just from swapping between speakers and headphones.
Apple, with its beaucoup PrettyCase budget can surely come up with an aesthetically pleasing way of making that happen.
(As a personal gripe, I don't think Dell could make it any more difficult to hook things up without chainin attack dogs to the back of the system. grrrr
Dell designer: "Let's see, most people are right handed and it is easier to reach the top back rather than the bottom back, so on our desktops let's put all the ports on the bottom left, and make sure that the USB ports are blocked by the video cord. . .")
[ 11-17-2001: Message edited by: groverat ]</p>
Whats worse is that I have Yikes! G4, Dual 450 G4, and a Digital Audio 466 G4 - they have all got different positioned FireWire ports!!
AND, the most recent G4 has squashed the ports between the USB and Ethernet ports making them even worst to fumble. Progress, what progress?
Front FireWire ports would make my life much easier.
iMac wins because in its original incarnation you can use it in its ?pure? form and be quite happy to use it without the need to add that many bits to it.
The Cube ?fell down? somewhat because it seemed awkward to connect to the back. It was definitely a computer which when was put in its place - you didn?t really want to interfere with it again, I certainly would not want to disturb its highfalutin majesty!
My G3 seems to just has a mass of stuff coming out the back of it!!!
I think the Hub version of computing is affecting alot of us now - so how can we do this without causing a mess and obscuring the pure forms of the art-like computer?
Solution 1
Make every thing a connected thing. The object looks like it should be connected!!
Solution 2
Create an Annex into which all the connections can be made.
This may be realised at a point where we have very little contact with the computer and the connection experience becomes its own objective - what I mean is that the computer can be philosophically split into 2 parts:
A The part that works and can exist anywhere (above and below a desk or in a rack even).
B The part you connect to: the annex Encourages the New Joy of Computing which is the ability to connect and feed/transfer various material.
The Annex therefore is a connection machine not in the parallel computing sense but in the physical sense - to compute is to connect. I think this is visualised well in the ?Rio? iBook Ad, where its not about the iBook per se but how you connect.
What will the Annex look like?
- It could just be like the iBook - a plush line of connectors on a solid base.
- It could be on your keyboard or working input device.
- It could be visually like an AirPort Base station
- Or the monitor continues to evolve and take on more responsibility.
It might be also worth considering the tactile nature of making a physical connection... like do you want to be able to move the thing your connecting to and how does it feel? Is it rubberised to give you some purchase or grip?It would be interesting to see any ideas as renderings or drawings...
userone
[ 11-17-2001: Message edited by: userone ]</p>
<strong>The whole concept of connectivity is also what puzzles me. It definitely is a battle between pure form and the ability to connect with wires...
... The Cube ?fell down? somewhat because it seemed awkward to connect to the back. It was definitely a computer which when was put in its place - you didn?t really want to interfere with it again, I certainly would not want to disturb its highfalutin majesty!...
Solution 1
Make every thing a connected thing. The object looks like it should be connected!!
Solution 2
Create an Annex into which all the connections can be made.
A The part that works and can exist anywhere (above and below a desk or in a rack even).
What will the Annex look like?[list][*]It could just be like the iBook - a plush line of connectors on a solid base.[*]It could be on your keyboard or working input device.[*]It could be visually like an AirPort Base station[*]Or the monitor continues to evolve and take on more responsibility.
... It would be interesting to see any ideas as renderings or drawings...
userone
[ 11-17-2001: Message edited by: userone ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Most Interesting userone.
On a personal note, my Cube sits as Art on my desk, positioned directly over a 2 inch "knock out" hole put there to run wires. All connections, save video, go right down that hole in a nice bundle. I have a Sony CD burner (on a shelf above my monitor) and a Sony DV Cam (doing double duty as a Web Cam) firewired to the Cube. USB to my Pro speakers and to a 7 port USB hub conveniently located, yet out of sight under my desk.
In a sense my Cube will become my "Annex" when I get a TiBook, as it will become my broadband firewall and file/web server. I'll use my TiBook from anywhere on my property - wirelessly.
<strong>How do expect to be the digital hub when its just hard to hook up a device?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I couldn't agree more, applenut. I have a feeling we'll get revised Apple displays in January which will include a handful of easily accessible USB and FireWire ports.
I would assume a revised iMac would also be made a bit more suitable for it's role as a "digital hub".
[quote]Sucks that adding ports to the front makes a machine so ugly.<hr></blockquote>
I don't know, I like the open ports on the iBook. It makes it look, um, kind of techie and gadgety. It's certainly prettier than a strip of serial, parallel and VGA ports.
<strong>Why not just buy a hub? More ports. Easy access. Simple.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I think applenut's point is that if Apple is selling it's hardware as a "digital hub" for your USB and FireWire devices, it would be kind of sensible for them to provide a clutch of easy to find ports.
this birds gotta fly <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
I think instead of having them on the very front of the machine, how about the side or bottom somehow? I'm thinking the side, because it's not hard to plug in and it's not as ugly either.
Although, someone else had a point, they should just be on Apple's displays. Yeah. That's a good idea.