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A tweet posted shortly after Apple's recent Macbook launch event underlined the absurdity: Apple now sells 17 different types of dongle.
In its ever-escalating war against connectivity ports, Apple's latest computers do away with the SD card port, a full-size USB port, and the HDMI port.
Instead, you'll need a dongle to convert those "legacy" connectors, as Apple put it on Friday, into the new, smaller USB-C port.
"We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition," the company said in a statement, without acknowledging that Apple's newest iPhone, released just last month, is one such "legacy" device - without a dongle (or a different cable, sold separately), you can't connect Apple's new smartphone to Apple's new laptop.
"We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem."
That help will be a decent discount on the price of the dongles - it calls them adapters - until the end of this year.
How long before they release new dongles that must be individually charged?
(Score: 4, Funny) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday November 08 2016, @04:37PM
I'm sure most of us remember those Mac vs. PC ads a few years back with the hip young guy as the Mac and the stodgy jacket-and-tie guy as the PC.
I distinctly remember at least a couple of those ads that emphasized the supposed compatibility and flexibility of the Mac -- how easy it was "just out of the box" to connect to different hardware and do all sorts of different tasks, while the PC complained about drivers and incompatibility with some stuff.
Somebody really needs to do a parody of that starting with the Mac saying, "Look how sleek and slender I look!" But then a couple of other people come by, and the Mac starts grabbing all sorts of random junk and attaching it to his body, ending up with stuff hanging off of him everywhere. Meanwhile, the PC quickly goes around shaking everyone's hand and chattily happily. But the Mac needs to figure out which connector he needs to "interface" with everyone else, trying out a few different ones before giving up and asking the PC guy for "tech support"... They finally found the right one in a giant box of parts -- "oh yeah, that one only costs $25."
(I'm sure somebody's probably done something like this, though the closest I know of is the parody making fun of the different power adaptor ports [youtube.com].)
Seriously. I have no problem with Macs for the most part -- they're solid computers, though rather overpriced for the hardware. But if I wasn't worried about price, I'd probably consider a Mac. (I already use them for work.)
However, the whole dongle business is getting to be a bad joke. We have standard ports on computers (and other devices) for a reason.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday November 08 2016, @04:50PM
Microsoft is too much of a sluggish dinosaur to act on this. Same company that made the Scroogled ads that did nothing.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Tuesday November 08 2016, @06:09PM
Not true. Those ads gave Microsoft lots of ideas. After these ads, they started scanning emails, forcing 'telemetry' into their OS, and displaying ads.
(Score: 2, Funny) by RS3 on Tuesday November 08 2016, @06:47PM
This is really old (10+ years) but still makes me laugh out loud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvt1znXURjk/ [youtube.com]
If you used Macs 10-15 years ago it will bring back memories. If you didn't, you'll be thankful you didn't.
(Score: 5, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday November 08 2016, @08:27PM
Thanks for the laugh. I remember watching this years ago, and yes, I remember the experience too.
While we're sharing, after the recent news about the new Mac keyboard with no escape key or power button, I took a shot at my own parody...
----
First they came for my floppy drive, and I did not speak out, because floppies were slow and I was glad to be rid of them anyway.
Then they came for my CD-ROM drive, and I did not speak out, because I appreciated a lighter, more compact laptop.
Then they came for my headphone jack, and I did not speak out, because I use my damn phone as a phone, not a stereo.
Then they came for my escape key, and I knew there was no way out.
They they came for my power button, and there was no one left to hear the perpetual screams.
And my MacBook, never flickering, still is sitting, still is sitting
By the pallid bust of Steve Jobs just above my basement door;
And its screen has all the seeming of a daemon's that is dreaming,
And the process o'er it streaming throws exceptions galore;
And my soul from out that process started back in days of yore
Shall be shut down -- nevermore!