1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Pollett. I'm 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: an editor at how stuff works dot com. Sitting in 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: across from me as usual is the person who forgot 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: to put his phone on airplane mode. Senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: The trained mind does not need a watch. Watches are 9 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: a confidence trick invented by the Swiss. Oh that's an 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: interesting thought. Sorry. Normally I would comment on the quote 11 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: of the week or or of the podcast, and and 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: I was thinking, oh, that's that's interesting. Sorry. Yeah, I 13 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: don't really ever come by. I don't know if you 14 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: recognize the actually thinking of the origin of that quote, 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: but I'll tell you about it after the show. Okay, 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: so today we're going to talk about some well I 17 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: was gonna say competing technologies, but according to at least 18 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: one party in this, it's not supposed to compete. But 19 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: two different methods of transmitting data from computers to other devices, 20 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: or even from the Internet to a computer, depending on 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: how you're using them or uh, I would say, in 22 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: in in one case, within the computer itself, yes, also possibility. 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, so we're talking about USB three point oh 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: and Intel's light peak technology. Yes, one of these. You 25 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: would sort of probably be expected to know. USB is 26 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: pretty ubiquitous as it has been, uh since I would 27 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: guess the late nineties or at least early two thousand's UM, 28 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: which if I'm not mistaken, until actually had quite a 29 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: bit of a responsibility in developing USB in the first place. Yeah. 30 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: In fact, Intel worked quite hard on USB three point 31 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: oh as well. Uh, it's the the universal serial bus 32 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: is what we're talking about here. And and you know, 33 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: you're probably familiar with these. You probably have devices that 34 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: you hook up through your computer that have you have 35 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: that same UM plug that goes into the computer ports. Uh, 36 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: you know, everything from cameras to cell phones to uh 37 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: external drives, UM two keyboards, mice, joysticks, all sorts of things. 38 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: I've even seen some touchscreen displays that are USB connected 39 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: connectible where you can have a second display up, which 40 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: is a little interesting. It's actually that's that's probably taxing 41 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: USB two point oh to its to its limits. But yeah, 42 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: I mean this was just the purpose of the Universal 43 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: Serial Bus was really to kind of help simplify ports 44 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: on a computer. Right. Oh yes, but because I remember 45 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: the days of Scuzzy. Um, yeah, Scuzzy for those of 46 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: you who aren't familiar with it, good now, I know. 47 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,679 Speaker 1: Scuzzy actually was was pretty nice. It was speedy for 48 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: its day. Um. But my my first two computers, being 49 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: Commodore amigas, they used Scuzzy ports, or at least for 50 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: most of the stuff that I had. Actually you would 51 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,679 Speaker 1: have parallel ports on those as well. UM. But the 52 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: thing that annoyed me about Scuzzy, uh was that you 53 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: could only have up to eight devices attached to your computer. Um. 54 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,960 Speaker 1: You would hook it up by this really thick cable. 55 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,399 Speaker 1: Um thick especially compared to to something like USB one 56 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: and two anyway, and uh you had to actually set 57 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: the address on the back of the device itself. I 58 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: had um an external drive that I used to use, 59 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: and you'd have to uh at my old job actually 60 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: um where you would actually have to turn the thing 61 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: around and uh, you know, actually change the number and 62 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: yourself you could actually see the number it was. It 63 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: was one of those little digital counters like you would 64 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: see on a handheld counter. It's what kind of funny. Um, 65 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: so you said it, you know one through eight. Uh, 66 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: and if you had a competing and uh something on 67 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: that address, then it would cause problems. Also, you had 68 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: to have a terminator at the end on the last switch, 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: so if you had don't call the I knew he 70 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: was gonna go there. No, you had to have say 71 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: you had a uh an external drive on your computer, 72 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: it would have an outport as well, so it would 73 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: have it would be out to the computer and then 74 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: you would have an import and if nothing was coming 75 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: into it, if you didn't plug in the terminator, the 76 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: computer wouldn would theoretically continue to look for the other 77 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: device which wasn't plugged in, and it would it would 78 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: slow things down sometimes depending on what you were doing, 79 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: cause it not to work. Um. So you had to 80 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: have this little uh it's kind of hard to describe it. 81 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: It was almost like a dongle, little plastic and metal 82 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: device that you would shove in there that you know 83 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: and lock into place that it would know, No, there's 84 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: no other devices on here. You have the two external drives. 85 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: One of them is you know, number four. Number one 86 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: of them is number seven. You know, I know that 87 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: this is the stuff that's on there. And the best 88 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: part of all, if you wanted to add something, you 89 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: had to turn off your computer, turn off the device. Uh. 90 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: Some would even say unplugged the devices, although it never 91 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: seemed to bother mind rather than the four computers that 92 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: I blew up when I didn't I'm kidding, but yeah, 93 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 1: you're supposed to turn off everything before you you know, 94 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: plugged or unplugged any of the devices into this guzzy chain. 95 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: And uh, my first computer with USB was the very 96 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: very first iMac. I actually got it on the day 97 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: it came out, and uh, it was the first computer 98 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: I had to have USB. And the idea of being 99 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: able to hot swap devices and have up to a 100 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: hundred twenty seven instead of eight, it was so nice. Yeah. 101 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: Hot swapping, by the way, in case you don't know, 102 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: that just means that you can unplug or plug in 103 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: a device at any time, whether your computers on or off, 104 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: and that in theory, nothing bad should happen it. What 105 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: should have but is that the computer should check to 106 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: see what kind of device has just been hooked up 107 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: to it and whether or not the computer has the 108 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: correct driver to interact with that device, and if not, 109 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: it prompts you to either you know, load the driver 110 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: or try and search for it. Yep. And that's another 111 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: one of the nice things about USB is that it's 112 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: you can find it on Windows machines, you can find 113 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: it on Linux machines, you can find it on Macintosh, 114 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: and for the most part, you can buy peripherals that 115 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: will work with all three or at least two of those, 116 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: as long as there is a driver available for them. 117 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: And that wasn't necessarily the case before. So USB is 118 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: really kind of um made everything a lot easier, and 119 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: fire FireWire two to an extent, but FireWire didn't catch 120 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: on like USB did. The FireWire was mostly the domain 121 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: of Apple. Um. Yeah, the the sony for example, with 122 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: the USB thing, and and the idea that you can 123 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: use the same peripherals on different devices. I have a 124 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: couple of my own that I've swapped out between my 125 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: Mac and my uh my PC, including and this this 126 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: got a lot of mirth off the internet when I 127 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: took a picture of it. Uh A, I've used my 128 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: Mac keyboard to hook up to my work PC because, 129 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: as we all know, the left side of my keyboard 130 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: on my work PC doesn't work. So and that was 131 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: the USB keyboard that I happened to have at home 132 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: was my Mac keyboard, and I was like, huh, I 133 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: wonder if this will work, And sure enough it does. 134 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: The Apple button doesn't do anything. But other than that, um, 135 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: and I've I've hooked up a PC keyboard to my Mac. 136 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: So there you go. So at any rate, the USB 137 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: solution was to try and cut down on all these 138 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: different ports, and of course there are a lot more 139 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: besides just the scuzzy I mean you had serial ports, 140 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: you had parallel ports, you had the keyboard and mice 141 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: jacks that you would have to insert the you know, 142 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: you plug your your mouth or your keyboard in. They 143 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: have those little round plugs if you remember. You now 144 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: you've got a lot of USB one so you don't 145 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: have to worry about that kind of stuff. Um, and 146 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: it's simplified things a bit, right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I 147 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: was thinking about that too. Um. The nine pin connectors 148 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: that you used to see on the old Attaris where 149 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: the ports that also worked with the Amiga. So all 150 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: my um, I could use my joysticks and stuff to 151 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: play games with. But now if I were going to 152 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: do that on a Windows or a Macro, a Linux machine. 153 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: You could buy a USB joystick and it would work 154 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: across all of them. You have the same port. You 155 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: don't have to mess with all that stuff anymore. That's nice. Now. 156 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: One of the limitations now we're currently the standard currently 157 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: is USB two point oh. Yes, that's watching away for years. 158 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: Yes exactly, it has been that way for years. Uh 159 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: and and we've known that USB three point oh. They 160 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: finalized the standard for that in two thousand and eight, 161 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: but we still haven't really seen a wide rollout, and 162 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: we'll probably get into a little controversy about that in 163 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: a little bit. But the uh there, there's some limitations 164 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: to USB two point oh. One of which is the 165 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,719 Speaker 1: speed UM. Now it US be two point That is 166 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: fast enough for most regular applications, like if you want 167 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,559 Speaker 1: to use a keyboard or joystick or a mouse. The 168 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: bandwidth is fine for that, you know, it's you don't 169 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: need something that's going to be super fast. And the bandwidth, 170 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: by the way, is four hundred and eighty megabits per 171 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: second UM. But if you want to do something like 172 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: back up your hard drive to an external drive and 173 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: you're using a USB cord and you've got a massive 174 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: hard drive, right, you know, yeah, it's gonna take some time. 175 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: So you've got like a hard drive that's like you know, 176 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: you could have up to a terabyte, right, I mean 177 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: or more really, but you want to back that up 178 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: because we we always say you should back up your 179 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: hard drive. One of the things that makes that less 180 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,079 Speaker 1: than easy is the fact that are a lot of 181 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: our cables don't have the bandwidth capacity to make that 182 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: data transfer at a very fast clip, so you have 183 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: to wait quite a bit while you do it. It's 184 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: always nice to schedule at for the middle of the 185 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: night when you're asleep theoretically, but you're asleep in the 186 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: middle of the night. Man, I kind of figured that 187 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: stuff out. So, uh so USB three point oh ups 188 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: that speed and by ten times actually four point eight 189 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: gigabytes or gigabits sorry four points Yeah. As soon as 190 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: I said, I was like, well, you need to correct 191 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: that before we get letters four point eight gigabits per second, 192 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: and uh so that's yeah, it's ten times the speed 193 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: of u USB two point oh. And they talk the 194 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:31,719 Speaker 1: I remember hearing things like, well, at that speed, you 195 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: could you could rip a Blu ray disc and just 196 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: a matter of moments comparatively speaking, like thirty seconds. So 197 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: there's this amazing ability to uh to transfer data at 198 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: a really good clip. And just like USB two point 199 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: oh uh, it is capable of powering devices as well. 200 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: There there are um enough, the way the cables work. 201 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: There are four cables in USB two point yes, there 202 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: are eight in USB three point oh. Yes. Now two 203 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: of those cables are for ones of power cable, ones 204 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: of ground cable. Yeah. Um yeah, I had I had 205 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: gotten my notes from from Norman Chan and Maximum PC 206 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: who wrote a nifty article. It really well. The title 207 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 1: says it all everything you need to know about USB 208 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,079 Speaker 1: three point oh plus first spliced cable photos. They actually 209 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: have pictures. He said that there are five new cables 210 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: are yes, um but yeah, it's basically you're transmitting more 211 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: information over that distance. So I don't mean to contradict you. No, no, no, 212 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: that's right. I would rather I would rather have the 213 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: correct information. Well, here's here's how I understand it. So 214 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: USB two point oh. One of the other limitations is 215 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: that it does this thing called polling, which is where 216 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: you know you can only so do you like your 217 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,599 Speaker 1: data in this location where than you I shouldn't have 218 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 1: pause to let you say something. I can tell you 219 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,679 Speaker 1: had something to say. But respondents say they want their 220 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: data on this hard drive at any rate. Worry about that, 221 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,199 Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. Uh No, the USB two point it 222 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: can only send data in one direction at a time, right, exactly. 223 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,839 Speaker 1: So you're like, let's say you've got a smartphone that 224 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 1: you're using, and you want to move files to and 225 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: from the smartphone, So you say, pulling pictures off the 226 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: smartphone and you're putting music onto it. Right that that 227 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: that could happen. You can't do both of those things 228 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: at the same time using USB two point oh. Right, 229 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: You're gonna have to do one first and then the other. 230 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: Right now. USB three point oh, because of the additional 231 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: wires that they've added, they've the standard allows UH two 232 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: a well, simultaneous transmission of data both to and from 233 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: the device at the same time. I said that simultaneously 234 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: in the same time. This is what happens when we 235 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: record in the morning. Oh my goodness, people. But but yes, 236 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,599 Speaker 1: you can actually see these these lines now if you 237 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: if you look at the end of a regular USB 238 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: uh connector, you'll see, um it sort of reminds me 239 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 1: about sandwich cookie in a way, because half of it 240 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: is an open space and the other half is seems solid. 241 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: And that's how that's what frustrates so many people about it. 242 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: They know that they've got the cable, they're reaching around 243 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: the back end of their of their PC and they 244 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: know they've got it in the slot, but the closed 245 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: end is on the closed end, and you have to 246 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: flip the plug over and then find the the connector again, 247 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: and it's it's frustrating. It's not that big a deal, 248 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: but if you look at it, you'll know what I'm 249 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: talking about. But on the USB three connector, you can 250 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,199 Speaker 1: actually see where the other wires it plugs in the 251 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: same way, it's backward compatible as far as using support. Now, 252 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: you would actually need a USB three card on your 253 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: computer for it to use USB three. But let's see 254 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: you have an older computer and somebody lent you a 255 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: USB three cable. You could still use that on your 256 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: computer and you would be able to see where the 257 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: wire connectors are on the closed off looking in, they're 258 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: actually visible to you, so you could tell just by 259 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: looking at it whether it's a USB two or USB 260 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: three chord. Right and and just to clarify a little bit, 261 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,319 Speaker 1: you can use USB three on a USB two ports, 262 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,319 Speaker 1: a USB three cable, and a USB two port, like 263 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:10,719 Speaker 1: Chris was saying, but it will, of course it will. 264 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: The data will move at USB two speeds right because 265 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:15,599 Speaker 1: it doesn't have the connectors to make it work. And 266 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be confusing. No, no, 267 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: not at all. I just wanted to make sure I 268 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: covered that. Uh. But the idea that it being backwards compatible, 269 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: that stretches back to USB two, which was also backwards 270 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: compatible with USB one. I mean you want to you 271 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: want to make sure that you don't just wipe out 272 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: someone's entire Like the whole purposes make life simpler. You 273 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: don't want to make it more complicated by saying, okay, 274 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: all that stuff that you had no longer works. So 275 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: now that we have these devices that require lots of 276 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: data to transfer at high speeds, let's say that you 277 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: want to back up your hard drive, or that you've 278 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: captured a bunch of high definition video and you want 279 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: to pull that from a camera onto your computer. Uh. 280 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: USB two, I know, is starting to look a little slow. 281 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: And that's why USB three point oh was was being 282 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: put into play. It's also called superspeed USB because USB 283 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: two point it was called speed USB. So superspeed is 284 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: the idea that it's gonna go much much faster, it's 285 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: gonna continue to power these devices. It actually draws more 286 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: power than than USB two point oh. USB two point oh, 287 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: I think had a maximum of five milli amps and 288 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: USB three point oh is nine miller amps. Um so 289 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: for powered buses, it's it's that's a means it's gonna 290 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: be able to power more power hungry devices. Yes, definitely, 291 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: So that's kind of the story in USB three point oh. 292 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: Let's talk about light peak for a second. Okay, I 293 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: think it's in transition. I think it's important to note 294 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: that USB three if and if if I'm not mistaken, 295 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: USB three is is only external, like you're going to 296 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: hook up external peripherals with USB fight I know. However, 297 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: white peak can be used on a motherboard to connect 298 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: devices inside your computer. Is that yeah? Or or you 299 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: can use it as an external as well. This was 300 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: sort of Intel's take on how can we simplify these uh, 301 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: these ports even further than USB three point oh because 302 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: USB three uh, you know, there's certain devices you can 303 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: connect to like the external hard drives or the high 304 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: definition cameras, but it still does not have the bandwidth 305 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: necessary for other applications like driving a high definition monitor, 306 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: or or replacing an HDM MY chord um or replacing 307 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: the Ethernet chord. You couldn't do that with USB three. 308 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: The bandwidth isn't there. It's not really designed for that. 309 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: So Intel was saying, well, what if we were to 310 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: develop a technology that would allow us to essentially boil 311 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: it down to one cable for data. You know, you 312 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: could just have the same sort of cable. Essentially, your 313 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: your computer would look like it would have a whole 314 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: bunch of the same ports, and in theory, you could 315 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 1: plug any cable into any of those ports and then 316 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: into any compatible device and it works. So you might have, 317 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: you know, five cables, they're all identical, and one of 318 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,600 Speaker 1: them is going to an external display, and one of 319 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: them is going to your high high definition camera, one 320 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: of them is going to a an external hard drive, etcetera. 321 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: So the way they decided to try and implement this 322 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: is through fiber optics. There there's a chip that is 323 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 1: central to this system that UH would be installed on 324 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: a motherboard and would transmit it would essentially translate binary 325 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: data into optical data using a laser and UM fiber 326 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 1: optic lines. I'm impressed that you managed to hold off 327 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: saying laser. You know I did that to myself. UM. Yeah, 328 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: I mean that's if you remember, we did a podcast 329 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: not terribly longer last year on fiber optics UM and UH. 330 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: Fiber optics are a much different animal as far as 331 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: the way they transmit information. They're going by light UM 332 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: and they do have some advantages. UM. Now, when we 333 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,880 Speaker 1: talked about fiber optics in that podcast, we were talking 334 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,399 Speaker 1: about how delicate the lines are. You have to be 335 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: very careful with that. Well, I did some research on 336 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: light Peak for the podcast, and and tell claims that 337 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: you can even tie the cable in a knot and 338 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: it will still be able to transmit information very very 339 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 1: quickly without you know, having to worry about damaging the 340 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: lines on the light peak transmitter. And that's funny because 341 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: light peak may if you may never have heard of it, 342 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: but this is something that's been in development for pretty 343 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: long time now. So it's like, actually, we were expecting 344 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: to see products launching with light Peak, perhaps as early 345 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: as late, but that didn't happen, and now we're hearing 346 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: about it coming out in And the idea here is that, 347 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: at least the initial idea is that you're using fiber 348 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: optics to transmit data the there'd be two fiber optic 349 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: lines that would be dedicated to transmitting data out and 350 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: two that would be dedicated to transmitting data in. So 351 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,160 Speaker 1: just like USB three point out, you could have simultaneous 352 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: communication from both the device and the computer. And uh, 353 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: the theoretical starting speed for light peak, and I say 354 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: theoretical just because it hasn't hit the market really yet 355 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: is ten gigabits per second. So that's more than twice 356 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: as fast as USB three point out. Indeed it is. 357 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,959 Speaker 1: And uh that at that speed you still can't necessarily 358 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: replace things like HDMI chords. You would still need to 359 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: get a little faster than that. But Intel says that 360 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: within ten years that top speed will re a peak 361 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: of around a hundred gigabits per second. Now, at that speed, 362 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: you're talking about using the potential for using this technology 363 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: for everything from the cable that would go from your 364 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: modem to your computer, so you would use the same 365 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: sort of cable to hook up to your Internet connection 366 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: as you would to your external hard drive or to 367 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,239 Speaker 1: another monitor, which is kind of a cool idea, right. 368 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: You no longer have to worry about, oh gosh, I 369 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: need this one specific cable, where the heck is that? 370 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: And you know, you start hunting through all your cables. 371 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,439 Speaker 1: Now you just have a pile o cables that are 372 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 1: all the same and you just grab one, which is 373 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: a great idea. The there's some limitations to light peak 374 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,640 Speaker 1: as well. One of those is that we don't really 375 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: know how light peak would provide power to devices, right 376 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: because you have a lot of devices that either charge 377 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: through USB or the The USB provides the power that 378 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: the device needs to to operate as well as the 379 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: data transfer, and light Peak on its own cannot really 380 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: transmit power because you're talking about fiber optics, it's just 381 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,360 Speaker 1: light um and by light, we're using like I said, 382 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: lasers and little photovoltaic type sensors. So there would have 383 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: to be some sort of either external power source to 384 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,479 Speaker 1: power these devices. Um, So you'd have one wire essentially 385 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: going in to provide power and another wire coming in 386 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 1: that would be the light peak wire, or you would 387 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: have to pair light peak with copper wire of some sort. Yeah, 388 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: because of course, uh, you know, the USB is using 389 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: copper as it is in order to to do what 390 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: it does. So yeah, it seems like you would have 391 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: to have something like that simply to avoid, um, you 392 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: know that the charging having to worry about the charging issue. 393 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: And people have come to expect that with USB and 394 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 1: FireWire both being the connectors have choice for the majority 395 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: of electronics over the past decade or so. Um, I 396 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 1: think people sort of expect that, and they'll go, hey, 397 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: this is great, it's really fast, but now I have 398 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: to plug it in while I'm you know, I think 399 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: that that may throw people a little bit. Um. And 400 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: and just while we've been talking, I did a little 401 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: more additional research just to find out how many lines, 402 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: and I found reputable sources saying four and five additional 403 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: lines on USB three it's a mystery. So um so 404 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: I'm we may have to to uh post on on 405 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: our Facebook feed or something that we can find out 406 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: definitively one way the end, because I thought, you know, 407 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: I had gotten it from a reputable source, and you 408 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: got your from reputable source, and we will go out, 409 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: we will find a USB three point accord and we 410 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 1: will cut it open. Okay, then that'll tell us right there, yep, 411 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: but yeah, we will cry. But I don't have a 412 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: device that can actually operate under USB three point over 413 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: right now, so it's not at the at the moment, 414 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: it's sort of a moot point. Um. But yeah. And 415 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: that was one of the things though about light Peak 416 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: two is that on its debut it may not necessarily 417 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: be using fiber optic, right That is an interesting point. 418 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: We heard from Intel that the initial light Peak wire 419 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: is not actually using fiber optics to transmit data through 420 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: the wire. It's going to use copper, which, of course, 421 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: again it is like all the other cables. So but 422 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 1: supposedly they have found a way until has found a 423 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,679 Speaker 1: way to uh to transmit data at that ten gigabits 424 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: per second speed that was supposed to be the starting speed, 425 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: which is interesting. Uh. One of the problems, one of 426 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: the other problems about using copper is that electricity can 427 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: create interference, you know our f interference and um USB 428 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,359 Speaker 1: three point I was kind of pushing that envelope right 429 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: now as it is, so to have an even greater 430 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 1: bandwidth of copper means that you have to you know, 431 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: think about those problems about shielding the cable and such 432 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: way so that the interference is at a minimum or 433 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: else you're going to have problems when you're transmitting data. 434 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: And so it's a lot of people have started talking 435 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: about that. I've heard some snarky comments talk calling the 436 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: first generation of light Peak copper peak because it's not 437 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: using light it's using copper um. Maybe it'll be light copper. 438 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: Maybe maybe it will, it could be, I don't know. 439 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: But the the other discussion, besides the fact that the 440 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: first generation of light Peak will not actually be using 441 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: fiber optics in the cable, the chip is different. The 442 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: chip could have you can have fiber optics within the motherboard, 443 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: but the actual cable that you're using to hook up 444 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 1: to the various devices is going to have copper in it. 445 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: The other big discussion is is light peak going to 446 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: make USB three point oh a moot point from the start? Like, 447 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: is is it an also ran? Not if it never 448 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 1: makes it to market. The thing is right now, they've 449 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: been promised for years and they're just hasn't been any moved. 450 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: I mean, there's been movement, but you just don't see 451 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: them on store shelves either one of them really in 452 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: any quantity, even though I think you would agree. I mean, 453 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: you've seen some uh, some displays this at c E S. Yeah, 454 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: I've seen yeah, demos of light Peak have been at 455 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,920 Speaker 1: c E S uh previously. You And there are USB 456 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,360 Speaker 1: three point oh devices and motherboards that are out there 457 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: on the market right now. You can go out and 458 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: buy them, but they aren't as plentiful as they as 459 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,120 Speaker 1: you might think they should be. Considering that USB two 460 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: point oh is such a wide standard, you would imagine 461 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 1: that USB three point i would get adopted fairly quickly. 462 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: And depending upon whom you ask, you might hear that 463 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: the adoption rates are actually faster than USB two point oh, 464 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: and other people say, like, well that that has maybe. 465 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: But USB two point oh is an accepted standard, so 466 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 1: you would think USB three point would be adopted very quickly, 467 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: especially since it was introduced the standard was finalized in 468 00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:00,080 Speaker 1: two thousand eight. UM. One of the the allegations that 469 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: I've heard some journalists levy against Intel is that Intel 470 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: is specifically dragging its heels in supporting USB three point 471 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: oh in order to give light Peak an advantage, because 472 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: you know Intel, Intel's not just doing this light Peak 473 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: project until makes chips and and chip sets from other boards. 474 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,120 Speaker 1: And if Intel doesn't create sets that support USB three 475 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: point oh, then some one of the most popular chip 476 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: manufacturers is in effect holding back USB three point oh adoption. Now, Intel, 477 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: for its part, says that's a lot of bologna that 478 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,120 Speaker 1: they are not trying to sabotage USB three point out 479 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: that in that light Peak isn't even intended to replace 480 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:56,440 Speaker 1: USB three point oh. I've seen reports, essentially kind of 481 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 1: in a mysterious way, say that light Peak will work 482 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: with USB three point oh. And whether or not that 483 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: means that you will have light Peak cables that have 484 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 1: a USB connector on them, I don't know. They haven't 485 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: really gone into detail to explain what they mean by that. Well, 486 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: you know, getting back to what I said earlier. Um, 487 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: I remember in the when I first learned about like 488 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: light Peak, hearing that it was supposed to basically be 489 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: inside your computer, you know, hooking up your hard drive 490 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,360 Speaker 1: and your components to transfer data more efficiently within your 491 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,919 Speaker 1: machine itself. Now, the more recent research suggests that they 492 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,639 Speaker 1: intended to be thing for used for things that you 493 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 1: plug in peripherals that you plug into your computer as well. UM, 494 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: So in a way, if if it were sticking to 495 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 1: what's inside your computer, UM, that would make more sense 496 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: that it would be a technology to use fiber optics 497 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: to move info around inside your machine or inside peripherals 498 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,159 Speaker 1: just that much more quickly, and then using USB on 499 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: the external to transfer information between devices. Now you know, 500 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: if they really are serious about using it to hook 501 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: peripherals to your computer, then yes, I don't see how 502 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: it could not be considered a competitor to USB three. Um. 503 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 1: You know, if the USB three uh contingent believes that 504 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 1: Intel is doing this in an anti competitive way, I 505 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: would expect to see this hit the streets and the courtroom. Um. 506 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,720 Speaker 1: You know, you'll you'll hear about the court cases because 507 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: you know that happens a little bit in between technology 508 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: companies when one feels slided by another. But yeah, I 509 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: would imagine that really there's room for both. Uh. There 510 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: may be applications for which light peak is particularly well suited. Um, 511 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: you know, and it may be particularly more expensive because 512 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: it relies on fiber optic technology rather than good old copper. Yeah, 513 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: I UM, I know. I would imagine things like, let's 514 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: say I can't imagine you're needing a light peak connection 515 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: for your keyboard or for your mouths. Well, everybody, everybody 516 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: that's in quotes, everybody's using the wireless mice and keyboards anyway, 517 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: right through Bluetooth, right, Yeah, no, not really, but yeah, 518 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: you don't really, that's that's overkill for something like that, 519 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: or or even for gaming devices where you really don't 520 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: want where you really want a fast connection. You're you're 521 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: concerned about things like latency between your your computer and 522 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 1: your keyboard. So yeah, still, even then, I can't imagine 523 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: that that a USB, even a USB two device would 524 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: be useful for that because it to be because a 525 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: game pad, even though you do want to cut down 526 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: on on latency, there's not a whole lot of data 527 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: being pushed through. And if there isn't a lot of data, 528 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: it's going through very very fast. I mean it's you know, 529 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: we're talking about top speeds of four megabits per secon 530 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: for USB two point oh and four point eight gigabits 531 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: per second for USB three point out. That's that's definitely 532 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: overkill for those kind of devices. But for the other thing, 533 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: applications like to replace the Ethernet port, or to replace 534 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 1: HDM my ports, or to create a fast connection between 535 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: your computer and an external hard drive so you can 536 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 1: back up really really quickly, you know, in a few 537 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: seconds as opposed to you know, an hour or two, 538 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: depending on what kind of device you're using and what 539 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: kind of how much data you're you're shipping around. Then 540 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: totally makes sense. And we also should remember that USB 541 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: three point oh USB in general has a limitation on 542 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: how long the cable can be, which is around five meters, 543 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: which is actually pretty pretty long. Um, But the light 544 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: peak cable, it's limitations a hundred meters when you start. 545 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: When when Intel starts mentioning things like that, like the 546 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: fact that light peak cables could be up to a 547 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: hundred meters long without any loss in performance, you have 548 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: to come to the conclusion, Asian that this is not 549 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: intended solely as an internalized component, because why would you 550 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: need a hundred meter cable inside your computer? That I 551 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: can't imagine an application for which that would be really 552 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: really useful, But I'm sure there's somebody out there going, 553 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: really that would be great. Finally, I could build my 554 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: computer the size of the Graysler building. Um. The Chrysler 555 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: building is slightly longer or slightly taller. Yes, but you 556 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: put the computer part in the middle, silly, any of 557 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: the peripherals at the top of the bottom. I thought 558 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: this through. Okay, Okay, so anyway, the Yeah, it's gonna 559 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: be interesting to see how this pans out, whether USB 560 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: three point or like peak goes forward, whether Intel starts 561 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: to produce more chip sets that actually that actually support 562 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: USB three point oh, so that we start seeing more 563 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: of those computers on the market. Um, Like I said, 564 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: there are some motherboards out there that have USB three 565 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: point chips. You can actually go out and buy a 566 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:04,959 Speaker 1: USB three card and install it on your computer. Um. 567 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: Although a lot of people think, well, what's the point 568 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: of that. I mean, the reason why people like USB 569 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: a lot is that it's convenient. And part of that 570 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: convenience is that it's pre installed on your computer. You 571 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: don't have to go and open your computer up and 572 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: put in a chip. And of course a lot of 573 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 1: us are using laptops that you may not be able 574 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: to install another card in your laptop, depending on how 575 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 1: it was manufactured and how tech savvy you are. Yeah, well, 576 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 1: I mean, like my netbook, I can't do it. You know, 577 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: you know, if the netbook came with USB three, that'd 578 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: be awesome, but there's I'm never gonna get USB three 579 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: on that netbook. I would have to buy a new 580 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: one that would have that built into it from the start. So, uh, 581 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: I'm I'm curious to see how this plays out, especially 582 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: again with the whole computer security angle. Backing up the 583 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: computer and at just a fraction of speed is really 584 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: appealing to me. Or the idea of buying a new 585 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: MP three player and moving my five thousand plus song 586 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: list onto it in just a second or two is 587 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: that's also very appealing to me, so you can just 588 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,760 Speaker 1: immediately go and listen to your music. So we'll have 589 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:19,480 Speaker 1: to keep an eye on this see how it plays out, 590 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 1: whether or not whether or not it really they really 591 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: do work in tandem, or if light Peak will push 592 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: USB three out of the way before it even gets 593 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,480 Speaker 1: a chance to get started. Well, that wraps up this 594 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: discussion on USB and light Peak. I hope you enjoyed it. 595 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go get some coffee right there. If you 596 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: wanna let us know what you think about the debate, 597 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: send us a message on Facebook or Twitter. Are handled 598 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 1: there is tech Stuff H s W. Or you can 599 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: shoot us an email That address is tech stuff at 600 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com and Chris and I will 601 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. For more on this 602 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuffworks dot com. 603 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: So learn more about the podcast, click on the podcast 604 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. 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