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> why plugging a keyboard into a keyboard port was considered such an inconvenience. USB was a BIG deal, and a big improvement. It wasn’t the keyboards, it was
by jdlshore 4y ago
> why plugging a keyboard into a keyboard port was considered such an inconvenience.
USB was a BIG deal, and a big improvement. It wasn’t the keyboards, it was the printers, scanners, external hard drives, and Zip drives.
Macs had something called “plug and play.” You plugged in a peripheral and it Just Worked. PCs didn’t have that. USB was intended to be the solution, and the most part, it succeeded.
BUT… the PS/2 connector was also a problem. In addition to there only being one keyboard connector on a typical computer—that happened to look just like the mouse connector, and wouldn’t work if you used the wrong one—it had an electrical flaw that could actually damage your motherboard if you plugged/unplugged it while the computer was on.
So, yeah, maybe don’t hate so easily.
- johnwalkr 4y agoThe original iMac was the first computer to have only USB ports, and no floppy drive. This was controversial at the time but it probably sped up adoption quite a bit. And the connectors themselves have been great. Aside from PS/2 connectors, most other things use some variation of a DB9 connector. Mechanically, you could plug all kinds of things together that were not electrically compatible.