5 ms·

Why do we need to be stuck in the 1980's forever? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector We wouldn't even hav

by melling 10y ago

Why do we need to be stuck in the 1980's forever? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector We wouldn't even have USB-A without Apple. PC manufacturers stuck with PS/2 keyboard connectors for another decade after Apple switched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS/2_port https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS/2_port According to most, the rate of technology is accelerating. Unfortunately, we want to stick with the same ports forever. Let's all move to USB-C, for example, and everyone else can buy an adapter. https://www.amazon.com/Aukey-Adapter-Reversible-Supported-CB-A1/dp/B00W98IJ0O https://www.amazon.com/Aukey-Adapter-Reversible-Supported-CB...

phicoh 10y ago
Well, after the VGA we got DVI, there is HDMI, display port, mini display port, and I probably forgot some. All the time, VGA (and headphones jacks) just work. It is not the most brilliant solution, but it works. I don't know the details, but some combinations, I think going from HDMI on a MacBook to DVI actually don't work. I guess due to HDCP getting in the way. About adaptors, nice if you use the laptop only on your desktop. In the field I managed to break a thunderbolt to ethernet dongle and it also took out a thunderbolt port on the MacBook. It used to be that only a cheap RJ45 patch cable would get old. You toss it in the bin and get a new one. I guess that's progress.
- SysArchitect 10y ago
  HDMI to DVI works without issues on the MacBook Pro. Just make sure your display accepts digital input. Some older displays/projectors had DVI without actually supporting the digital in pins and only had the analog (VGA equivalent) pins.
  - Kadin 10y ago
    There are a variety of Catch-22 situations with HDMI on some Macbooks. For instance, the maximum resolution on my current Macbook is lower if I use HDMI than if I use Thunderbolt.
badsock 10y ago
I know VGA is on it's way out, but it's a sad thing. It's the last open-spec video monitor connector that we have. You need a annual licence to make anything that talks HDMI, and IIRC the org behind DVI closed the spec a few years ago.
AnthonyMouse 10y ago
> PC manufacturers stuck with PS/2 keyboard connectors for another decade after Apple switched. PC manufacturers still sell PCs with PS/2 keyboard connectors. Because once you lay out a thousand bucks for a KVM switch, you're in no hurry to throw it away. Because people still love those mechanical IBM keyboards. Because you can't plug a thumb drive into the keyboard port of a machine at a secure site. And PS/2 to USB converters are full of bugs. Meanwhile PCs have had USB support since USB has been a standard. Apple "dropped" PS/2 because they never had it -- Macs used ADB. Adopting USB (from Intel et al) was a bid to stay relevant by becoming compatible with PC peripherals. Dropping ADB (and VGA and RJ45 and so on) are nothing but Apple saving a buck at the expense of the people who still use those things. You can have the new thing without destroying the old thing.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- melling 10y ago
  I was a PC user when Apple adopted USB. It took almost 5 years before it gained wide adoption on PC hardware. It was a long wait.
- ubernostrum 10y ago
  You can have the new thing without destroying the old thing. OK. So every computer needs to have, at minimum, multiple USB ports, probably at least one type C USB port, a PS/2 port (really at least two PS/2 ports), a serial port, an ethernet jack, a CD-ROM drive, a floppy drive, a VGA port, a DVI port, probably an optical audio port, an HDMI port, a pair of audio ports for stereo out, an SD slot and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack. After all, it's wrong to destroy the old things just because there are new things. So I'm sure you'll get busy right now starting up a company to make computers that come with all of these and they'll sell like hotcakes, right?
  - AnthonyMouse 10y ago
    There are a bunch of PC makers who already do. Take a look at the back of most workstation-class PCs. About the only thing you're going to have trouble finding is the floppy drive, and that's because they're legitimately defunct. A PS/2 keyboard is just as good as a USB one; a floppy disk on a new PC is a useless anachronism.

by melling 10y ago

phicoh 10y ago

Well, after the VGA we got DVI, there is HDMI, display port, mini display port, and I probably forgot some. All the time, VGA (and headphones jacks) just work. It is not the most brilliant solution, but it works. I don't know the details, but some combinations, I think going from HDMI on a MacBook to DVI actually don't work. I guess due to HDCP getting in the way. About adaptors, nice if you use the laptop only on your desktop. In the field I managed to break a thunderbolt to ethernet dongle and it also took out a thunderbolt port on the MacBook. It used to be that only a cheap RJ45 patch cable would get old. You toss it in the bin and get a new one. I guess that's progress.

SysArchitect 10y ago
HDMI to DVI works without issues on the MacBook Pro. Just make sure your display accepts digital input. Some older displays/projectors had DVI without actually supporting the digital in pins and only had the analog (VGA equivalent) pins.
- Kadin 10y ago
  There are a variety of Catch-22 situations with HDMI on some Macbooks. For instance, the maximum resolution on my current Macbook is lower if I use HDMI than if I use Thunderbolt.

badsock 10y ago

I know VGA is on it's way out, but it's a sad thing. It's the last open-spec video monitor connector that we have. You need a annual licence to make anything that talks HDMI, and IIRC the org behind DVI closed the spec a few years ago.

AnthonyMouse 10y ago

> PC manufacturers stuck with PS/2 keyboard connectors for another decade after Apple switched. PC manufacturers still sell PCs with PS/2 keyboard connectors. Because once you lay out a thousand bucks for a KVM switch, you're in no hurry to throw it away. Because people still love those mechanical IBM keyboards. Because you can't plug a thumb drive into the keyboard port of a machine at a secure site. And PS/2 to USB converters are full of bugs. Meanwhile PCs have had USB support since USB has been a standard. Apple "dropped" PS/2 because they never had it -- Macs used ADB. Adopting USB (from Intel et al) was a bid to stay relevant by becoming compatible with PC peripherals. Dropping ADB (and VGA and RJ45 and so on) are nothing but Apple saving a buck at the expense of the people who still use those things. You can have the new thing without destroying the old thing.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
melling 10y ago
I was a PC user when Apple adopted USB. It took almost 5 years before it gained wide adoption on PC hardware. It was a long wait.
ubernostrum 10y ago
You can have the new thing without destroying the old thing. OK. So every computer needs to have, at minimum, multiple USB ports, probably at least one type C USB port, a PS/2 port (really at least two PS/2 ports), a serial port, an ethernet jack, a CD-ROM drive, a floppy drive, a VGA port, a DVI port, probably an optical audio port, an HDMI port, a pair of audio ports for stereo out, an SD slot and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack. After all, it's wrong to destroy the old things just because there are new things. So I'm sure you'll get busy right now starting up a company to make computers that come with all of these and they'll sell like hotcakes, right?
- AnthonyMouse 10y ago
  There are a bunch of PC makers who already do. Take a look at the back of most workstation-class PCs. About the only thing you're going to have trouble finding is the floppy drive, and that's because they're legitimately defunct. A PS/2 keyboard is just as good as a USB one; a floppy disk on a new PC is a useless anachronism.