mbmoore

chasm said:

mbmoore said:

No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.

I have a small hub that does all that for my MBP.

Or you could switch to one of these growing number of USB-C thumb drives.

Actually, neither of those solutions works for me. On my old 11 inch Air, I leave my LOW PROFILE (1/4” protrusion) 512gb thumb drive in the USB-A port practically all the time—it’s a permanent appendage to it and it’s where I save all of my data files. Because of USB-C’s limits to minimization, there is no pathway to that size drive footprint, and I need the extra storage to avoid using up my internal drive space. The only solution is to add structural support to the adapter. I certainly use hubs and other thumb drives occasionally, but not permanently attached. In this configuration, I can pick up my Air and walk out the door without worrying about wagging a bag of attachments with me. Apple throws a monkey wrench into things when they don’t include USB-A—major oversight IMO. I know why they do it—it’s an easy way to coerce buyers into upgrading to a more expensive model, but I’m on a limited budget.

No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.

It sounds like the author thinks UK legislation will be a great thing--it is NEVER a great thing when Government, ANY Government, tries to police private industry. The world has connectivity like it has never had before, individual people have access to just about any kind of information (good and bad), products, and communication that they have never had before, and Government, as it always does, is going to step in and destroy it; it will be a slow but steady erosion of capability. It is rare that Government oversight improves anything. Of course, large enterprise private industry often does the same thing; AT&T, Comcast, and numerous others take over smaller entities and slowly destroy them. (AT&T's acquisition of DirectTV is a good example of it.) The difference is that private industry in a free enterprise arena is essentially self-regulating--competition is a wonderful thing; Government is the monopoly--they have no such thing as competition.

The UK is probably the king of destruction. First, it was mandating USB-C as a connection standard, which is inane. Of all the problems (???) to choose, they chose cable connectivity($%???!!). Now, they're trying to regulate app sales. Let's see how long it takes for them to destroy the software apps business.

Which states banned gaming computers? The same ones that mandated 100% electric cars by 2035? What morons. Power consumption only matters with laptops, tablets, and cell phones. Desktop power consumption is almost irrelevant in comparison as long as there is sufficient cooling.