MWAH HA HA!

[trinityvixen]

I declare myself the new winner at life!

I rearranged my desk and the shelves above it to place the CPU of my work computer on the lowest, fixed shelf. Finally! I have leg room under my desk and no wires running around on it! I win! I win! I win!

Until my boss objects and makes me undo it. But maybe not! WOOOO!!!

Comments

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Wired convenience is definitely what needs to change. Accessories need to be more convenient, too. Nine-tenths of the problems I have come from peripherals that not only require connection to my computer but to a power supply source of their own. There should be a way to connect to just the computer and set up something to accommodate both power and data needs. That day will be the day that clutter gets better for realz.

[hslayer.livejournal.com]

The best way to do that is really to reduce the devices' power requirements. I mean, you can't just push hundreds of watts through the same data connector that plugs directly into delicate circuitry without frying it. (Well, maybe once we have room-temperature superconductors....) Even internally, disk drives and some high-end graphics chips use separate power and data connectors.

Still, the wide use of USB for nothing but power is probably a good sign. I mean, it only provides 2.5W, yet flash drives and even small portable hard drives are fine with it. Ipods can charge from it, as can a few other things. The fans and light-up snowmen and toy aquariums and other crap even inspired a joke or two.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Reducing power draw is a good start. It has been done, as you've shown, with USB, and I think there's got to be a way to extend that.

In an unrelated note: I like the fishies!

[hslayer.livejournal.com]

Definitely. I think the only things that it isn't likely to eventually happen with are those that don't get unplugged and moved around freuqently anyway. Large monitors, loud speakers, big printers...these all would need a lot of power even if they were 100% efficient. Like, a monitor needs to draw at least as much energy as the light it gives off.

But smaller devices that don't have large physical impacts on the world can certainly be made more efficient, and are being made more efficient. Many new connectors like USB and eSATA (for external disk drives) do carry power as well as data, and even some old ones are being retrofitted, the Power-Over-Ethernet specification being a prime example.

There are also a few completely psychotic labs working on short-range wireless power distribution. Dunno how close that is to commercial application, though. One that's already used on very small scales is only really good for charging, and not that useful. Like, put your cell phone on a special charging base instead of taking the extra 3 seconds to plug it in. But at least one (MIT, of course) is working on something with a range of a few meters - enough for one base to blanket a room. Lessee...here's an article. And here's another April fool's joke.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I like the BBC News article. Very exciting. I might just have to see about getting me one of those pads. The convenience of not plugging in isn't the selling factor there. It's the all-encompassing charger convenience. Then again, you can get that (mostly) with just a universal charger with changeable tips. Must-have if you travel or have thirty gadgets. Which most people do...