help me understand

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
why macs come with very little usb support? personally I cant understand. The powermac (top of the line) only has ONE usb port on the front-am i correct?? I dont think any company should advertise there keyboard as "valid" usb ports. So is there any justified reason...besides desktop clutter by cords that this is done?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member




    The keyboard is an actual USB hub, so that is indeed 'valid'.



    How many ports on the front would you consider 'sufficient'? (Hint: try looking on the back for more of them...)
  • Reply 2 of 5
    the apple site says 1 usb port besides the keyboard. if found some pics with it with 2 on the back. totalling 3 on the whole tower. Even so, i think 4-5+ would be bettter
  • Reply 3 of 5
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alliancep.s.i

    the apple site says 1 usb port besides the keyboard. if found some pics with it with 2 on the back. totalling 3 on the whole tower. Even so, i think 4-5+ would be bettter



    Why? Serious question. USB hubs are as low as $10-15, only have to pay for them if you need them, etc.



    Two on the back isn't bad, one on the front for the non-semi-permanent items (cell phone, iPod, etc), and as you mentioned, plus another on the keyboard...



    There are basically two classes of external devices you'll hook up to any computer: permanent, and transient. Permanent are things like the keyboard, a printer, hard drives, etc. They're designed to be hooked up more often than not, and you don't swap them in and out very often = you don't need access to those ports on a regular basis.



    Transient devices are ones you plug in and unplug all the time, like iPods, phones and such. You *generally* only use one at a time, so only or two ports is fine. You *do* want these to be more available, but even putting them on the front of the tower is a PITA unless you have the tower taking up space next to you. Bleah. Me, I'd rather use the plug on the keyboard since it's in my working area anyway.



    If you find you need to add more devices that don't daisy-chain, or you find that you need multiple semi-transient ports, a hub is cheap, small, and can be placed within easy reach.



    *shrug* Just my opinion.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    ok. Why not put it on the computer (say 4 ports)? IF you want it...you can use it. IF you dont...then you dont use it. The more the merrier I think. The desktop clutter thing isnt even valid once you stick a hub in, you have more of a mess than if they were directly on the computer. Ever think in the future apple will put more usb's on the Pmac, eMac etc, or is this how people like it?
  • Reply 5 of 5
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alliancep.s.i

    ok. Why not put it on the computer (say 4 ports)? IF you want it...you can use it. IF you dont...then you dont use it. The more the merrier I think. The desktop clutter thing isnt even valid once you stick a hub in, you have more of a mess than if they were directly on the computer. Ever think in the future apple will put more usb's on the Pmac, eMac etc, or is this how people like it?



    If it's on the computer, and your tower is under your desk, then you have to crawl under there to use it. Trust me, I have to do this with my external backup drives on an old tower, and it's a pain. Much better to have access through a hub on the desk itself, IMO. A front port helps, but again, I prefer to have it on the desk easy to use - and I *don't* want the entire tower up there.



    The iMac makes this a lot easier, having the entire thing be easily accessible on the desk... but you were talking about towers. This is why Apple adds USB ports to the displays - easy access ports, keep the CPU in a more efficient place.
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