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There's an increasingly growing and
burgeoning trend for things that plug
into
the USB ports of a computer, that remain
sticking out of the port. Bluetooth
dongles, memory sticks,
wireless adaptors, cellular thingies.
These
all present an obvious hazard on a laptop
- they stick out,
and they are rigid, thus
presenting a very high risk of potential
damage.
Flexi-PCBs have long existed, and the
USB
connection is only four lines, plus
shielding, so really there is no
requirement
for rigidity. A stick-format peripheral
could easily be designed such that it
sticks
out but upon a glancing impact, simply
bends or waves out of the way.
Two possibilities present - one, that it
maintains the sticking out posture, and
simply twangs back into position if
something hits it or bends it (probably
suited to the RF peripherals that require
radio antennae to work properly, the
cellular, bluetooth and wireless stuff).
The
other is that the peripheral could be
made
malleable to a certain extent so that the
user plugs it in and pushes it or folds it
one way or the other to tuck it out of the
way to some extent, and it more or less
stays that way.
All of this is possible using existing
technology.
USBee - Flexible USB flash drive
http://diskonkey.bl...sb-flash-drive.html
Never made it to production, it seems. [baconbrain, May 19 2008]
Hinged Thumbdrive
http://uk.gizmodo.c..._1gb_usb_stick.html
The electronic portion of a USB drive could fit inside its connector. The rest is fashion. [Amos Kito, May 19 2008]
Concept: Memory Infinite, by Vicky Wei
http://www.yankodes...nking-rubber-bands/
[jutta, May 20 2008]
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I got a 6-inch USB extension cable with a USB memory stick which I use all the time now for this very problem. |
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[+]The extension cable does indeed solve this problem but I don't want to carry one every where I go. |
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I've seen a memory stick with a U-joint, and a pivoting antenna, I think. <Googling.> |
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<Giving up>. I thought I'd seen one, somewhere. It may have been just a proposed idea, like the USBee I linked to. |
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Makes up for the disappointing non-floppiness of floppy discs. |
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I'm going to suggest that perhaps the devices' rigidity is helpful for its port insertion. |
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USB thumb drives such as the [Link] are made with the circuitry compacted at the end of the plug. The bulk of these devices is form rather than function. You could have a foot long floppy stick if desired. |
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Design it to be rigid for insertion, then become flexible, so you can move it around as desired or twang it without damage. |
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//Design it to be rigid for insertion, then
become flexible, so you can move it
around as desired or twang it without
damage// - I'm sure there's a joke in there
somewhere; I'll work on it... |
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I'm more worried about googling "6 inch extension" |
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I would just sit there and boing it all day, like a ruler on the edge of a table. |
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I know someone who had a 6 inch extension to their stick, but it didn't become rigid for insertion anymore, and they definitely couldn't twang it without damage... |
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Amos Kito, - my USB memory stick is tiny.
It's a Sandisk Ultra II SD card, which folds
over to become a USB protrusion. But it's
not so much the memory devices I'm
concerned about, it's all of the things that
stick out rigidly. Memory devices are
probably the least of the trouble
(assuming everyone else uses Sandisk
Ultra II SD cards like I do, that is). |
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One old laptop I use has a "PC Card" interface, which it goes askew if one looks at it wrong. Thin card, sticks out, and a cable plugs into the end of it. It’s truly a terrible design. Twangability is useful in some cases, but may not be a complete solution. Malleability might. I’d like to be able to squish and mold the card or USB device into a mound against the laptop. It could be a thick rubbery material, similar to what window-crawler toys are made of. But internally, it would have a kind of skeletal system that can be moved and shaped without harming the electronics. |
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I don't know how many USB ports I've destroyed for this very problem. It should hinge in two dimensions and have a slight detent. |
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careful nomocrow, you'll go blind... |
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Who said that? JAWS didn't pick it up. |
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[+] for you, Ian, because you care
enough about your computer's
connectors to think of this, even though
it's at least three-quarters-baked in
the USBee (and probably others)... |
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Perhaps someone could follow Apple's
lead with magnetically-attached
memory, a la the Magsafe power
connector. |
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Then again, perhaps someone doesn't
want to be sued by Apple. |
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OR, you could just move the port to above the keyboard... but then you risk must more damage if you close the screen violently, forgetting there was a USB device... |
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Though the 'crack' would serve as a swift reminder |
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At first I thought you were describing the gearshift of a Chevy Citation...there's a memory I'd like to forget. |
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Bun. If I could have it, I'd make the USB connector be 90 degrees to the device and on a flanged grabber, so I could have the device lie parallel to the back of the laptop and still be easy to remove. |
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