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The Doom of Wired Peripherals 438

Posted by CmdrTaco from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.
techie writes "Is the doom of wired peripherals near? According to an article on CoolTechZone.com, it sure seems that way and Apple is leading the way. Quote: "Device cables are becoming a thing of the past, and that development couldn't come soon enough. We're ready to unplug, and we want to make the most of it. Apple has recognized this desire for consolidation and the benefits of a wireless lifestyle, and they've reacted effectively. When the iMac was first introduced, people went gaga over the fact that the monitor, computer, and speakers were all in one enclosure, thus eliminating the need for two bulky pieces of hardware and multiple cables. Just when you thought that was incredible enough, WiFi comes along and gives us blazingly fast Internet connections through the air, and Bluetooth rises up to allow all of our devices to sync with one another and the operating system without any wires."
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The Doom of Wired Peripherals More

The Doom of Wired Peripherals

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  • Not quite (Score:5, Funny)

    by Overzeetop ( 214511 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:13AM (#15872901) Journal
    I'll jump on the bandwagon when we can get rid of the power cable. When is power over wireless coming to computer peripherals?

    • Re:Not quite (Score:5, Funny)

      by Random Destruction ( 866027 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:15AM (#15872918)
      Indeed, my electric toothbrush has used this technology for years.
      Get with the times, Apple and others.

      • Re:Not quite (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Andy Dodd ( 701 ) <atd7NO@SPAMcornell.edu> on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @11:20AM (#15874040) Homepage
        It's not exactly wireless... Yes, the toothbrush and the power supply ARE physically isolated, but essentially it is done by making the toothbrush and its power supply each half of a standard transformer.

        Let's just say that as soon as the coils of the transformer are no longer actually *inside* of each other as they are in such electric toothbrushes, efficiency goes way down. Also in the case of those electric toothbrushes, efficiency was way down to begin with. I used to have one of those, it was a perfect example of inductive heating...

    • Re:Not quite (Score:3, Funny)

      by discord5 ( 798235 )
      I can see the headlines already: Mankind Harnasses Power of Lightning Operating computers may be dangerous to your health

    • Re:Not quite (Score:3, Funny)

      by Cyphax ( 262239 )
      I can't wait until all my electrical devices can be powered via wireless electricity. It'll just suck if you accidentally get in the way of the electricity. The TV will go black, and you'll get electrocuted. Possibly the rest of your household will find the latter more entertaining, and it also works great against burglars if your setup is any strategical (TV by one window, stereo by another, and so on). There, the drawbacks already negated.

    • Re:Not quite (Score:5, Interesting)

      by og-emmet ( 994099 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:23AM (#15873003)
      I'll jump on the bandwagon when we can get rid of the power cable.


      Douglas Adams (yes, that Douglas Admas) wrote a piece called "Dongly Things" [douglasadams.com] (it's a bit dated). He agrees with you.

    • Re:Not quite (Score:5, Interesting)

      by mcsynk ( 896173 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:24AM (#15873006) Homepage
      Tesla had a plan to broadcast electricity [wikipedia.org] a hundred years ago!

      peace
      Synk

    • Re:Not quite (Score:5, Informative)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:32AM (#15873074)
      Why it's already here [thinkgeek.com], of course.

      -Eric

      Any site named "thinkgeek" must be accurate, right?

    • Re:Not quite (Score:2, Interesting)

      by yuktar ( 178244 )

      I'll jump on the bandwagon when we can get rid of the power cable. When is power over wireless coming to computer peripherals?

      A few years ago I read about a technology that does intend to get rid of the power cables. It's a mat you can plug in and then place on the desk. Any compatible device placed on top of the mat is then able to draw power directly from that. The interesting thing is that you can place several devices on it at once, each one draws the appropriate voltage and current for its operation

  • Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Informative)

    by geeber ( 520231 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:13AM (#15872904)
    and then I got rid of it.

    Fricken' batteries dieing all the time. Who needs it?

    • Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Informative)

      by MindStalker ( 22827 ) <mindstalker@[ ]il.com ['gma' in gap]> on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:17AM (#15872935) Journal
      Get one that includes a base charger, you just stick it on the base at night.
      Also some of the new wireless none charging mice last months on a set of batteries. You can generally see the charge stats on the product description page.
      Watch out for wireless keyboards as well, some of em last months one I recently accidently bought for the office last less than a week.

      • Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Informative)

        by Amouth ( 879122 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:22AM (#15872993)
        i got the Logitech diNovo - great mouse/keyboard set - it isn't the blue tooth version and i get about 6 months on the keyboard and about 1 1/2 months on the mouse.. and i use it 8 hours a day 6 days a week. (note that i use monster 2150 mAh rechargable battries.. normaly ones suck)
      • That's the key that I've only seen Logitech truly grasp at this point, the recharging base. You need a nice small convenient one for every device you have, including your keyboard.

        Built-in bluetooth in your laptop and all peripherals, then easy recharging bases with quality batteries. Manufacturers who get all three of those points will have my business.

      • I have a wireless mouse with a chargerat home. Basically, it stays in the charger all the time. The mouse lasts less than an hour before the battery dies.

        And it causes interference with the baby monitor.

      • Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Excors ( 807434 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @10:09AM (#15873386)
        I've got an MX1000 (which is really quite nice, and I even use it left-handed) which recharges when you stick it in the base station. The only problem is that I now have two cables, where a wired mouse would have one – there's the USB from the base station to the computer, plus a power cable from the wall to the base station. It doesn't help the tangled-cables-under-the-desk problem at all. But it's far more practical than a wired mouse for clubbing people on the head.
    • I've got a logitech one with a nice little recharging stand. I stick the mouse in the recharging stand whenever I think to do so (it goes about 2 weeks for me without recharging) and the keyboard works on regular AA batteries, which I haven't ever had to change in over a year of use.

      Having the convenience of being able to use the keyboard and mouse in more casual positions, like leaning back in the chair with the keyboard in my lap, without worrying about the mess of cables is worth having to remember to st

    • Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by LocoMan ( 744414 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:21AM (#15872981) Homepage
      Agree there... we have one wireless mouse at work and we end up changing its batteries a LOT...one more thing to buy batteries for isn't exactly my idea of progress... :)

      Well, that, and knowing how I am with the TV remote control, I'd end up tearing apart my room trying to find a mouse that most likely found its way to the fridge... :)

    • Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:23AM (#15872999)
      Got to agree - I have had a wired optical mouse sitting at this desk for 3 years and I have never had to even bother with it. Changing batteries every month - sod that. And before anyone mentions rechargeable batteries with a dock unit - rechargeable capacities decrease and eventually die.

      The throwaway culture takes another step forward for nothing but sheer and utter laziness of humans.

    • Re:Had a wireless mouse... (Score:4, Funny)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:41AM (#15873153)
      I had a wireless mouse

      He lived in a wireless house

      He had a wireless wife

      Who lived a wireless life

      He had a wireless son

      Who had much wireless fun

      He typed 1000 lines

      To produce this stupid rhyme

      -Eric

    • Fricken' batteries dieing all the time. Who needs it?

      Had a vireless mouse, too, and was very unhappy with it because of the batteries. However, I do have devices, which have their own power supplies, and still need to connect to the computer via USB ports. I see no reason why those devices couldn't be wireless. This includes printers, scanners, speakers, and external drives. I started out with two built-in USB ports; recently I had to expand to 12 ports. All I should need are two ports: for my jump d

    • True, but you need to get something like the Logitech MX1000. That mouse lasts forever on batteries and its recharable. Just put the mouse on its base station every few nights and you will never run out. I personally go about 3 weeks between charges.

    • Wireless ____ sucks (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tverbeek ( 457094 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @10:21AM (#15873483) Homepage
      Batteries are only part of the problem with wirelessness. There's factors like performance and reliability that go to hell when you lose the wires.

      (Non-technical) people keep suggesting that the college I work for "go wireless" for our networking... not grasping that we'd be replacing a switched 100Mbps line to every computer (with 1Gbps only a wiring-closet upgrade away) with shared wireless spectrum that tops out at 54Mbps and requires encryption, access limits, etc. People ask why I never call anyone from my mobile phone, and instead go find a landline instead... it's because I want to be able to hear and be heard. Why do you think most of the civilized world switched from wireless television to cable?

      Buy a clue people: in almost any category of technology, wireless sucks compared to wired. And getting rid of a slender cable from my mouse or keyboard to my monitor is not worth it.

      • Re:Wireless ____ sucks (Score:3, Informative)

        by mcrbids ( 148650 )
        People ask why I never call anyone from my mobile phone, and instead go find a landline instead... it's because I want to be able to hear and be heard. Why do you think most of the civilized world switched from wireless television to cable?

        Ehh.... I went from "rabbit-ears" T.V. to satellite Dish/DVR. Both are forms of wireless signal delivery. The DVR is set up to use cables, but the actual TV signal is broadcast to my TV via a wireless signal repeater, and the remote control is also wireless!

        The only reaso
      • Darn right. I have enough problems with USB slowing down my typing and mousing. 12 mbit / sec is hardly enough, especially when I run out of ports and have to use a hub for my keyboard AND mouse. I wouldn't know what to do if I had to give up throughput just for the supposed convenience of a wireless mouse or keyboard.

        - Tash [tashcorp.net]
  • wireless mouse/kb sucks.  Always recharging batteries and keyboard sensor overwhelms mouse which makes multiple selections a pita. 
    • I would say you had a bad sampling. I have a logitech wireless keyboard mouse combo, the one that came out right before they went to laser optics. It has a base station for the mouse. Yes, I have to recharge the mouse every week or so, depending on use, but there's a red LED that lights up so I know I'm getting low before it craps out completely. Nothing beats being able to prop your feet up and type from a keyboard in your lap (particularly added with the peace of mind of not having to worry if you wil
  • Personally I'd rather have my house wired with Cat 5 than setup an access point. Besides, if I want wireless, there are 5-6 of the free linksys ssid's near by.

  • Which is all great... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Spad ( 470073 ) <slashdot.spad@co@uk> on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:16AM (#15872928) Homepage
    Until your batteries die, or your devices start to interfere with eachother, or you realise that your "Blazingly fast" wireless internet is actually pretty slow and becomes very slow as soon as anything gets between you and your access point.

    Wireless "everything" is hugely overhyped. Yes, a wireless mouse is nice because it doesn't snag, but why do I need a wireless printer? Or a wireless monitor? Or anything else that's largely static for its lifetime?

    • No No No No No, NO! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by palad1 ( 571416 )

      It's quite embarrassing, you got it all wrong.

      Please consume.

    • Yes, a wireless mouse is nice because it doesn't snag, but why do I need a wireless printer? Or a wireless monitor? Or anything else that's largely static for its lifetime?

      Actually, I like the idea of a wireless printer. Or keyboard. Or speakers. Or everything else, for that matter.

      What I don't like is the complexity and security involved with all this wireless. If I could build myself an antenna next door and sniff your key strokes, or your mouse movements, or what you've printed, or even what's on you
    • I once read about a wireless mouse that came with a mousepad that charged it while you used it. I don't know if it ever came to pass, but that addresses my biggest concern about wireless devices - I hate changing batteries on a device that isn't portable.

      Integration like the iMac isn't the best route to take either because when one thing breaks you're SOL. Plus you get no choice in components.

      Stability and modularity is the way to go. I especially love products that understand the benefits and pitf
    • while I agree with you on keyboards and mice, wireless net access? I downloaded a knoppx ISO, and burned it on my battery only in 30 minutes.

      While it's slightly slower than my hardwired connection(I use both)it's still fast enough to play games online.

      now with many connections it might slow down, but I limit those with WPA encryption.

    • Re:Which is all great... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by vertinox ( 846076 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:55AM (#15873268)
      Wireless "everything" is hugely overhyped. Yes, a wireless mouse is nice because it doesn't snag, but why do I need a wireless printer? Or a wireless monitor? Or anything else that's largely static for its lifetime?

      About 5 years ago when I was a lowly A+ certified computer shop tech, people would pay me crap loads of money to come out to their house and setup their already preconfigured computer. This usually involved me crawling under the desk and plugging color coordinated colors into their rights spots and then adjusting the cables so they look clean and then booting up the computer and then leaving.

      Had our customers took about 90 seconds to look at the instructions and plugged the cables into the right hole (including the usb and parallel printer cables) they would have saved themselves quite a bit of money.

      But... The average consumer has a real big aversion to plugging in cables even if there is no possible way to get the configuration wrong (well... I don't know how many times I've gotten calls about people getting the keyboard and mouse mixed up when they used the PS2 connectors)

      So for the average user, being able to open the box and not plug in any wires (except maybe power) is a god send.
    • I have a printer attached to my wireless network, so that I can print files from my laptop no matter where I am, and at the same time share the printer with two other desktops.

      A wireless monitor would be great because then I could take it with me to someplace a little more comfortable, like those times when I'm just clicking on stuff (wireless mouse would come in handy here too) like reading webcomics or some long files. Those times when I really don't need to be sitting at a desk, don't need to be typing,
    • Wireless "everything" is hugely overhyped. Yes, a wireless mouse is nice because it doesn't snag, but why do I need a wireless printer? Or a wireless monitor? Or anything else that's largely static for its lifetime?

      Maybe the peripherals are static, but the computer itself gets moved around (e.g. because it's a laptop)?

  • Wireless empowerment! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ian_mackereth ( 889101 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:17AM (#15872934) Journal
    Wireless is handy for a few reasons, but there's still the issue of powering all those wireless devices.

    USB is great because it's a) universal and b) able to power and charge quite a range of small devices.
    Drop your PDA or ipod into a cradle and get a fast connection that's also charging your batteries.

    When and if inductive charging (think Braun toothbrushes) becomes widespread, then maybe wireless will become sensible for most devices.

    • "USB is great because it's a) universal ....(think Braun toothbrushes) becomes"

      Those USB toothbrushes are way kewl. Last week once, after I brushed my teeth, I got an email from a dental student in Thailand warning me about possible weakened enamel in one of my top molars.

  • Great so everything can be unreliable (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gnasby ( 264673 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:18AM (#15872941) Homepage
    Everytime I've worked with wireless technology it's been flakey. It's gotten to the point that if friend of mine calls me up and asks for help with their "wireless network", I show up with a roll of Cat5e, RJ45 plugs and a crimper. For 99% of wireless stuff, I just refuse to spend any time trying to get this technology to work. If I want to set somthing up, I want to be able to set it up ONCE and never have to worry about it again.

    I've yet to see any wireless implementation that is reliable as wired. Until that gets fixed wires are here to stay.

    • No kidding. Even if it simply involves disabling and re-enabling the WiFi card every few months to get it to properly connect to the basestation, it's too much. Sure, I'll put up with it, but it's far beyond what I'd expect my grandparents to have to go through to ensure that their WiFi works right.
    • Everytime I've worked with wireless technology it's been flakey.

      Well - the article was talking about Apple [flickr.com] ;-)
    • I get some crazy interference from time to time, where even holding a laptop next to the base station doesn't get a signal, but nothing major in terms of settings and stuff. I set it up once, and 99.9% of the time it's just fine. That .1% fixes itself after a minute or two when presumably whatever was causing interference stops. The most I ever actually have to do with it is give somebody the password and name of the network when they want to get on it. Well, that's not totally true because I'm paranoid and

  • "blazingly fast" (Score:5, Funny)

    by pr0nbot ( 313417 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:18AM (#15872946)
    WiFi comes along and gives us blazingly fast Internet connections

    My internet connection over wired ethernet - 512Kbps

    My internet connection over WiFi - 512Kbps

    Wtf are they talking about?

    BTW If you're chortling at my paltry ADSL speed -- which is the most I can get where I live -- do bear in mind that I live in remote, leafy... central London.
    • My connection from the computer to the living room to the one in my room over wireless.

      12mbps-54mps

      (When the nieghboors craps is not interfering with it and my roommate stops setting the cordless phone down right next to the router on the entertainment center.) The speed between the other two wired computers in the house.

      1000mbps

      Think that's unimportant, then you've never tried moving large amounts of files around or streaming movies while multiple wireless conections are active or being interefered

    • WiFi comes along and gives us blazingly fast Internet connections
      My internet connection over wired ethernet - 512Kbps My internet connection over WiFi - 512Kbps Wtf are they talking about?
      I think they meant to say ethernet instead of Internet, however, they are still wrong seeing as how 54Mbps is much less than 1000Mbps which seems to be the standard option these days.

  • No, no wireless for me, thanks. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:19AM (#15872950)
    No, I'm not interested at all in wireless. I'm wired at home, and wired at my business. Why? I'm a big fan of speed and reliability, both of which are always sacrificed with wireless anything. Wireless may be cute if all you're doing is checking your MySpace account and shopping and doing other such trivial things. Nobody in their right mind who relies on their computers for earning a living would do wireless.
    • I also prefer wired keyboards and mouse pointers because at least these devices will work with almost no issues with radio frequency (RF) interference. These RF interference problems can possibly stop the functionality of the keyboard and/or mouse pointer until you resolve the RF interference problem, which is not as easy to correct as many people think given the amount of consumer home electronics in a house and interference from some microwave ovens.
  • Wireless stuff is nice - especially when it comes to network connections - but there are still a lot of places where I prefer my wires. It's going to be long time, possibly never, before we have wireless transfer speeds fast enough for me to connect a hard disk, my iPod, or my various small storage devices. The same goes for digital cameras - just as fast as transfer speeds are rising, my pictures get much, much, larger, and I'd hate to try and unload a few gigs of photos via Bluetooth. I can't really get

  • Speed isn't the problem. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pilkul ( 667659 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:21AM (#15872979)
    Reliability is. Most of the wireless networks and peripherals I've seen have been randomly unreliable at some point or at least more difficult to configure such that they work reliably. Much of this is due to the immaturity of the technology, but the bottom line is that wireless connections are intrinsically more flakiness-prone than wired ones.
    • Wireless is fine if you live in the middle of nowhere.
      But only so many devices can use the 900MHz, 2GHz, and 5GHz bands. Anyone who lives in suburbia or the city will know what I'm talking about.
      It's not like your mouse will start moving on its own, but when its doing a CDMA backoff because your nextdoor neighbor's cordless phone is in use, you'll bang it in frustration when you miss that headshot.

      And forget about IR. Line of sight? It's a joke.

      Anything _interactive_ needs to be wired. Speakers, monitors, k
  • At work I see hundreds of batteries thrown away a month. I'll take wires over that any day.

    WiFi is progress, wireless mice aren't.

  • Security (Score:3, Informative)

    by MrShaggy ( 683273 ) <chris.anderson@hush . c om> on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:22AM (#15872984) Journal
    I like the fact that you can go wireless. Great, however, nothing beats a wire for security. Not too say that I don't use my wireless laptop, however sometimes having a wire upstairs makes sense. The other part is that my cable provider has upped our standard to at least 7megs/700k. Thats way faster then my wireless can handle. But being able to print anywhere in the house... yay!!!!!!!!!

    I think that is the reason for cables. I would love to be able to keep up, but when the cheap fibre to the house thing happens, my poor ole wireless wont keep up. The upgrade path is too steep. Maybe ain a few more months I will upgrade to something quicker.

    • Re:Security (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gEvil (beta) ( 945888 )
      The other part is that my cable provider has upped our standard to at least 7megs/700k. Thats way faster then my wireless can handle.

      This comment shows where exactly your understanding of bandwidth measurements falls (hint: it's low on the scale). Please explain how 7Mbps is "way faster" than even the paltry 11Mbps that 802.11b offers? (And yes, I'm aware that these are the theoretical peaks for both, and that there is overhead in the various protocols and encryption schemes).

  • Bandwidth issues (Score:3, Insightful)

    by PIPBoy3000 ( 619296 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:22AM (#15872986)
    When I start thinking about the data sent to things like my monitor and speakers, I'd think you'd quickly run into bandwidth issues.

    • Re:Bandwidth issues (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jos3000 ( 202805 )
      When I start thinking about the data sent to things like my monitor and speakers, I'd think you'd quickly run into bandwidth issues.

      The summary makes the point that Apple have managed to solve this problem by building the monitor and speakers into the computer. They even have the airport express solution if you want wireless hi-fi sound.

      The monster laptops that are being produced are testament to this: some people don't care about ultimate portability, they just like the monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse a
    • Well there was a wireless LCD monitor demonstrated at last years CES (don't recall the company though) and bluetooth already has A2DP, how limited exactly is the spectrum?

  • I don't hate cables. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cowscows ( 103644 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:25AM (#15873019) Journal
    You see, the neat thing about the world is that we don't have to completely get rid of something just because a newer way of doing it comes along.

    I love having wireless networking, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't run cables through all the walls if I was building myself a house. I mostly use my cordless phone at home, but having one phone always attached to the wall means that I'll always be able to easily find it if I need it. I can't remember the battery on that phone ever dying on me.

    We can have the wireless revolution without actually getting rid of all the wires. My printer can keep its wires. I don't move it very often. My iSight camera wire doesn't bother me at all. My USB hub would probably be far less useful if we got rid of all the wires, so let's not worry about that. I can't even remember the last time my keyboard's cable was a problem. My keyboard just sits there, on the keyboard drawer.

    Rather than making parts of a non-mobile computer mobile, I'm much more interested in making already mobile computers better. Give us better PDA's, make a tablet computer that is useable and affordable. The cord on my mouse is not that big of a problem.

  • I saw a thing on Gizmodo about wireless HDMI. The bandwidth involved in getting that kind of transmission across a plane without major compression is hilarious. DVI is about the same. And the interference alone ... !

    Once somebody shows me an affordable (less than $500 in this market), interference-free, non-carcinogenic device that can transmit 1080p 50 feet across a room without losing quality, THEN we will have reached a wireless nirvana.

    As for the other peripherals, I still can't find a wireless keyboard

  • Stupid idea. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by porkchop_d_clown ( 39923 ) <mwheinz@nOSpAm.me.com> on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:27AM (#15873034)
    Yeah, cabling is a pain, but we should be looking at ways to reduce the power consumption of our electronics, not boost it.

    Wireless peripherals would have to draw independent power and be "always on" - guaranteeing that even when everything is shut off and you're on vacation in the islands, your home computer gear is still sucking power.
    • Do you realise how little power is required to maintain a minimal bluetooth connection? Get some perspective. Driving a motor vehicle for just a few minutes probably draws vastly more power than a bluetooth device for a few months.
  • "This wireless revolution is only just getting started."

    The revolution is over. None of this technology is even slightly new and it's all widespread. Pretty much every peripheral that can be untethered from a power supply has been. Even printers which need a power cord can be hooked up to wireless by the kind of people who've never heard of /. Wireless is old news and an article talking about a bluetooth mouse is redundant.

    Whatever is happening for the future of wireless peripherals involves more peopl

  • Does this mean... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:28AM (#15873040)
    ...that Wired magazine will become obsolete?
  • "It was when I found a wireless bluetooth toothpick in a Sharper Image catalog... That was when I decided to build the asylum."
  • Now for those of us who have been in the tech world for more than 10 years this is old news. For those of you who are new let me tell you a secret. They have been spouting wireless freedom for a long time. Heck Apple sold Basestations with their laptops back in 2000. Bluetooth has been around since the stone ages and a couple years ago looked like the technology would die out due to lack of interest. What has changed? Technology? I dont think so. Maybe I am a Cynic but I will believe it when I see i
  • I've had two of the things... Microsoft wireless desktops. The last one was a Wireless Desktop Elite or some such. Nice mouse, and nice feeling keyboard. The problem was the stupid dialogs which would occasionally pop up. "Your wireless device has a low signal strength. You should check the batteries."

    I finally trashed them and bought a new mouse and keyboard which had a wire. Logitech something keyboard, and a G5 gaming mouse. The G5 is nice, the cable is covered in cloth and is very flexible.

    I do u
  • I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to hunt for a few NOS Logitech M-BA47 ergonomic 3 buttons +scrollwheel USB mouses on eBay.

    If I don't, I won't have any choice but to buy something wireless when comes the time to replace it. I don't want to worry about batteries, charging them and wireless security issues. Wired keyboard and mouse for me.

  • is it really progress (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Chris whatever ( 980992 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:34AM (#15873084)
    I'm wondering if it's really progress if everything we own are wireless, doesn't anybody think about the load of batteries it will take to make this equipment work?

    Even if you use rechargeable batteries, i'm pretty sure a company that has over a 1000 employees will be very pleased to buy a pack of 4 AA batteries at 20$ plus another 25$ for the charger + the time for the I.T to go around spendind their time changing batteries instead of actual work.

    I mean seriously, it may be practical but it is not cost effective or even realistic to imagine keyboard/mouse.

    How many batteries does a keyboard take and a mouse? you'll ahve to spend 40$ every 3 months for each user so they dont have wires on their desktop?

    i think not

  • No wireless keyboards for gamers (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 1800maxim ( 702377 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:34AM (#15873087)
    I just acquired Logitech S510 wireless desktop. It looks fantastic, the keyboard has a fantastic key feel, but the problem is that because it's wireless, it's a fraction of a second delayed compared to wired keyboard.

    When playing a videogame (NFS: Underground 2 for example) there is a delay between when the key is pressed and when the game reacts.

    This is still quite unacceptable, and regrettably, i will be returning my beautiful keyboard :(
  • Bull.

    "tethered by a cumbersome cord"
    "the power cord, which is as unobtrusive as can be"

    How can a mouse cord that's 3mm in diameter be "cumbersome", and a powercord that's twice that thickness be "as unobtrusive as can be"?

    "thus eliminating the need for two bulky pieces of hardware and multiple cables"

    The hardware wasn't eliminated, just consolidated. BTW, the Mac started that consolidation with the Apple Lisa (I had one) and, later, the original Mac (I had one) a long time before iFruit.

    "just look at the ab
    • The power cord goes to a piece of equipment that's mostly stationary. The mouse (or at least my mouse) isn't anywhere near as stationary. So, in my setup at work, my mouse is cordless and the rest uses cables - as the mouse is the only part of the setup where the cables has gotten in my way.

      Eivind.

  • WiFi comes along and gives us blazingly fast Internet connections through the air

    I hit my head ROFL so someone will be hearing from my lawyer very soon!

    Wireless is the bane of my existence. Everytime a tard goes someplace they can't connect I get a call. Everytime a tard can't sync a bluetooth phone I get a phone call. "I can't double click on my internet even with my special double clicky internet clicker thingie. Should I have gotten the one with the green blinkie light or maybe the blue one?".

    F**K wi

  • if energy was only free (Score:4, Interesting)

    by amichalo ( 132545 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @09:38AM (#15873121)
    If energy was free and didn't have to come from some power plant that poluted the environment, then yeah, wireless me up. Problem is that yoru wireless keyboard takes AA batteries that have to be manufactured, charged, and disposed of. What, so you don't have to look at a thin cable running to the edge of your desk? My keyboard cable doesn't kill me.

    Yeah, I see WIFI in notebooks as making sense...but on a desktop? I don't move my desktop...I ran CAT5 to my office and I get faster performance and don't waste electricity on the WAP or my box.

    Same goes for peripherals like wireless printers...HUH? Is this a real problem?

    • If energy was free and didn't have to come from some power plant that poluted the environment, then yeah, wireless me up.

      Energy does not have to come from a power plant that polutes the environment... Hydro-electricity, windmills and solar panels are but a tiny part of non-oil energy sources. I find it appalling that so many people think that you need oil to make electricity...

      I do, however, have the same point of view on the subject... a wired mouse and keyboard (and network, laptops aside) aren't "bad thi

      • ... but even with nuclear power (the only viable large-scale alternative to fossil fuels) with perfect radiation-free reactors (let's say cold fusion worked, or Larry Niven's stasis field fusion tube) you'd still need to build the plants and wires and you'd still have the heat output problem, plus beaming power through the air to your wireless devices wouldn't be healthy for you.
    • Relying on power though centralizes the problem. And why dispose of batteries every time, only to buy new ones, when you can just use a rechargable and have the whole system last essentially forever? Even with heavy use a bluetooth mouse can last for a month or more, then it's fifteen minutes in the charger and you're ready to go again.

      Also, I don't think you've factored in the extra cost in environmental resources and pollution to produce the cord that goes on non-wireless mice, not to mention the additi
  • A new version of Doom? How closely is it going to resemble Doom III? Will there be light in this one? How about patches, will I at least be able to get my duct tape in this one? Who is involved, is Carmack going to be on this one?

    Oh wait, we are talking about wired peripherals. Seriously, human factors engineering has to give way to functional design at some point. The fact that a whole machine can be put into a single box means nothing to me. I am all about the power of putting together your own machine an
  • WiFi'd peripherals just work.

    Apple's Airport and Airport Express wall-wart provide transparent connections to peripherals and seamless coverage to your network.

    Luddites fear not! Wifi sucks for audio-to-stereo. It is the timelag delay between the computer and stereo that is unacceptable. Wired is much better.
  • This is a fantastic step backwards.

    Can we make the tech cool AND useful?

  • Well wireless is fine but...

    I own a number of Netgear MP101 Wireless Digital Music players so that I can play my MP3 collection anywhere in the house. Well, sort of anywhere, the kitchen is a nightmare, especially when the microwave oven is on. The Dining room is OK, most of the time, the lounge moderate. The study (where the server is) is great.

    The moral of this is that I've invested in a wireless infrastructure, but I still wish I'd put in wires for some of the locations.

  • "Device cables are becoming a thing of the past, and that development couldn't come soon enough."

    Haha, he hasn't seen the back of my computer! 3.1 speakers alone generates five cables. Printer cable. Power cables. Even with wireless networking, the cable modem and the wireless router generate about four cables. Even a wireless keyboard has a cable to connect the wireless receiver to the ps/2 port. Monitor cable. The rat's nest back there is amazing. Every time I move my computer I have to disconnect every s
  • We recently started getting DVB-T over here, so I got a nice decoder. Now I need one remote to change channels, and another to change volume. If I wanted to run the audio over my hifi, that would make three. I have 2 cameras, a MP3 and a cellphone, all with USB cables. For some weird reason, they all use different plugs on the device-side. When will these stupid manufacturors get their heads out of their asses and STANDARDISE. How about daisy-chaining all your AV equipment with some cheap POF cable wh
  • Call me a luddite but I just don't like the idea of being surrounded by electronic gizmos all transmitting radio waves at me. They may well be safe individually but en-masse they're bathing me in swathes of radiation I'd rather not be bathing in.
    It's bad enough having my laptop warming my knees as I commute but having it also transmit radio waves at my nuts mere inches away isn't something I relish.
    • What happens when your cell phone causes a cancer in your intestine, and the radio waves from your mouse/keyboard kill the cancer?

      or vice versa.
  • Wireless won't replace wired until wireless devices can be powered through the air.

    My portable Bluetooth mouse goes through charges so fast I've gone back to a wired mouse. My keyboard seems to last OK, but it's got 6 Alkaline double-A batteries in it, not two rechargable AAAs (high amp hour, right).

    I tried using a combo-PDA-phone-MP3-player, but all that meant was that when I needed to use my PDA or phone I couldn't because I'd been playing music and it complained too much about being low on juice.

    The wire
  • I've had a few logitech wireless mice, and I've liked each one less than that preceding it. I always buy the 'best'... The mx1000, the g7, etc. But they get progressively suckier.

    I'm to the point that I'm looking for a wired mouse again, but it's gotta be GOOD. High DPI (adjustable if possible), good tracking even on less than ideal surfaces, doesn't need to EVER been cleaned, and works on all OS's without special drivers. Oh, and no Logitech. Their products (keyboards and mice) are almost as bad as th

  • iMac? 'scuse me?? (Score:3, Informative)

    by NuShrike ( 561140 ) on Wednesday August 09, 2006 @02:46PM (#15875747)
    Jobs always had a thing for a one-piece system since WELCOME TO 1984!! the original Macintosh [wikipedia.org] and also fanless design. Then it was try try again with the Macintosh Classic, the iMac, the Cube... no matter how bad an idea it was nor how badly it crashed in the market.

    It was the Macintosh II [wikipedia.org] that started the 2-piece thing and color.

    Remember your history.

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