Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a periheral bus standard
that allows you to connect a variety of peripheral devices
to your computer. Many Macintosh computers use Small
Computer Standard Interface (SCSI), Apple Desktop Bus
(ADB), and serial connections to connect peripheral
devices. USB will eventually replace these standards.
The iMac
is the first Macintosh to incorporate this standard.
Universal Serial Bus offers:
plug-and-play flexibility
standard connectors and cables, so there will be a
wide variety of solutions available to Apple customers
automatic configuration of devices as soon as they
are connected
hot swapping (the connecting and disconnecting of
devices while the computer is on)
ability to have multiple devices run simultaneously
on one computer, it can support up to 127 devices!
Using Older Devices With New USB Standard
Ethernet adapters will be available that will allow
you to connect LocalTalk devices to iMac. And Apple
also expects adapters to be available for some serial
devices. However, Apple does not expect adapters to
become available for SCSI devices, and Apple does not
support or recommend the use of any ADB devices on iMac,
even though some third parties have announced plans
to make such adapters or "dongles" available.
Technology
Theoretical Maximum Throughput
Megabits
Theoretical Maximum Throughput
Megabytes
Used For
Apple Desktop Bus
0.01 Mbps or 10 Kbps
0.0013MBps
input devices like mice, keyboards, joysticks, etc
hard drives, scanners, digital video
(Design spec up and running 3/21/00)
What is Firewire
FireWire
is a cross-platform implementation of the high-speed serial
data bus -- defined by IEEE Standard 1394-1995 -- that can
move large amounts of data between computers and peripheral
devices. It features simplified cabling, hot swapping, and
transfer speeds of up to 400 megabits per second. Major manufacturers
of multimedia devices are already adopting the FireWire technology.
FireWire speeds up the movement of multimedia data and large
files and enables the connection of digital consumer products
-- including digital camcorders, digital video tapes, digital
video disks, set-top boxes, and music systems -- directly
to a personal computer.
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