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 The
ultimate solution to cabling problems would be peripherals
that are completely wireless. And while we are waiting for
some interesting innovation to come along, USB connectivity
is the immediate solution
 The
tangled mess of cables behind a PC is a problem users have
long tried to resolve. Cable ties and cable organisers did
help to some extent. But whenever peripherals like the printer
had to be moved, the cables returned to a state of disorganisation.
In this article, I’ll write about a few solutions and
ideas to organise PC cables, and reduce the clutter.
When I saw the first version of the Apple iMac a few years
ago, I was amazed at how Apple tackled this problem. That
system had only two cables behind the power lead and the phone
line. The keyboard connects to a cleverly concealed port on
the side of the monitor, and the mouse connects to the keyboard.
I recently visited a data centre in Mumbai, and was impressed
with the structured cabling arrangements. From this visit
I learnt that a bunch of cables protruding from a switch does
not necessarily mean a tangled mess.
Now why can’t we have this kind of cable management for
desktop PCs?
Cable management for desktops may not be that structured yet,
but there are products in the market to organise or reduce
the number of cables. For instance, a pack of nylon cable
ties (Rs 70-100), helps in binding together extra long leads.
Of course, rubber bands are a much cheaper solution, but these
don’t last.
Another solution is the use of hubs. These are available in
parallel port and USB versions. The parallel port hub is better
known as a data switch. Priced between Rs
250-300, these can be used for connecting a printer, a scanner
or a Zip drive to the parallel port behind the PC. A PC has
only one parallel port, but may have two or more COM (serial)
ports. Ironically, there are more parallel devices (than serial
ones) today.
 Alternatively,
you could also connect the parallel devices in a chained manner.
For instance Zip drives and many new printers/scanners have
a ‘pass through’ parallel port in addition to the
standard parallel interface. So you could connect the Zip
drive to the PC’s parallel port and plug the printer
into the Zip drive’s pass through parallel port (See
Figure 1).
The near future
The ultimate solution to cabling problems would be peripherals
that are completely wireless. We do have wireless keyboards
and mice today, even wireless monitors. But imagine having
wireless printers, Zip drives, and scanners. Of course, these
devices would still need power leads. While we are waiting
for some interesting innovation to come along, USB connectivity
is the immediate solution (See ‘USB simplifies peripheral
connectivity’).
| USB
simplifies peripheral connectivity |
| Universal
Serial Bus is a standard that aims to simplify the connection
of devices and personal computers. There are other standards
for the same purpose, like IEEE 1394 (also called Firewire),
Sony’s iLink and HPSB but USB is essentially for
the PC platform.
USB reduces cable clutter, because a single USB cable
can carry both power and data. USB devices usually do
not need a separate power lead they draw power from
the PC’s power unit. However, there is a catch
to this. The power carried on USB cables is just enough
to power small devices like digital cameras, keyboards,
and handheld computers. However, devices such as printers
and scanners require a lot of power and need to be plugged
into a wall socket. Perhaps, future versions of the
USB standard will address this limitation.
Most new peripherals are now USB-enabled. There are
USB modems, mice, keyboards, external hard drives, ZIP
drives, digital phones, USB keychain storage devices,
digital cameras and printers. If you have several external
USB devices, then go in for a multi-port USB hub. A
4-port USB hub costs approximately Rs 1,200. Of course,
you could go in for more ports. All new PCs come with
at least two USB ports.
The advantage of using a USB hub (see Figure 2) is that
you avoid cable clutter behind the PC. Also, peripherals
like printers can be quickly connected/disconnected
to the PC without having to reach behind the box. And
since USB devices are hot-pluggable, you need not switch
off the PC or reboot while making connections.
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