Out with the old, in with the USB
We are in the times of multi-tasking, nothing anymore has just one function. Cell phones for example don’t just call, they do email, internet browsing, text messaging, video messaging, picture messaging, and pretty much everything communication related. Now what happens when we bring this multi-tasking world into our homes.
The power outlet, boring and old with only one true function, powering our stuff. Now what would happen if we totally changed the power outlet into something better. What if we started using USB as a new power outlet. This would make things much easier. Connecting to the internet (and powering your computer) would be as easy as plugging a cord into a wall or you iPod could connect to your computer in a different room. Your toaster could make you toast and get the morning news rss feeds from your favorite websites. Did you forget to close the garage? Close it from your cell phone or office. Television would no longer require boxes and cables, it would be just one single wire from the TV to the wall.
There are some problems, like with most things, but would this make life easier. Most elderly don’t understand how to setup a highspeed modem so wouldn’t it be easier just to plug in a single cord. There would be no need for customer service because you all you would need to do was plug it in.
Now there would be people out there who would exploit this in all possible ways. You would wake up one morning and find your oven on the highest setting or your television flashing “It’s Magellan’s Birthday.” If companies could find ways to stop these viruses (like not allowing your toaster connect to the world wide web), USB would be found in all new homes. It also would be expensive to convert all old power outlets to USB.
USB at the current moment is not powerful enough to power a computer or plasma television, but in the future we should expect to see higher power capacity in every cord. It also doesn’t have a very high transfer rate which I would also expect to change.
Everyone should be connected to each other by a much easier method, which I hope to see in the near future.
August 31st, 2007 at 11:42 pm
That is a really cool idea, makes me wanna set up something like that in my place. However, I seem to remember reading in the USB standards guide (I made a USB powered fan, for shits and giggles) that USB cables can’t be longer than 3 feet or something, any longer and the signal noise starts to exceed acceptable levels.
I dunno, I could be wrong.
September 2nd, 2007 at 12:03 am
Here’s the thing: While it’s not a terrible idea, it would be fighting 100 years of infrastructure, and it would require technical training of existing tradesmen.
Also, you couldn’t use the standard USB 2.0 connection just because 120 volts would fry USB devices, USB cords can’t handle 120 volts, nor could the cords or receptacles handle the amperage. You’d have to meet somewhere in the middle.
Besides, data transfer is moving to fiber optic connections anyway, so wires would be obsolete for data transfer once it were implemented.
So I guess it is a terrible idea.
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:23 am
“USB at the current moment is not powerful enough to power a computer or plasma television, but in the future we should expect to see higher power capacity in every cord. It also doesn’t have a very high transfer rate which I would also expect to change.”
I never said that USB at the current moment could be a replacement.
Btw- Wireless USB is where it’s at.
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:17 am
I really like the trend these days around universal functionality; integrating as much as you can into a single device, cable, etc. And reading something like this really gets my creative juices flowing, so to speak.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
even though your idea is very innovative and futuristic, i dont see it going anywhere. like someone above said, usb is for low voltage and data transfer. so a universal usb power cable isnt happening anytime soon.
other than that having your toaster connect to the web? come on. you have any idea how much a toaster with a screen would cost? sure it would make life easier which in turn would make us more lazy. id rather have a regular toaster and a computer than a duplex thing. If this were to happen companies would take advantage of this probably charging you to let your toaster access the internet on top of the price yo already pay for the internet connection itself, software companies would offer antivirus software for you toaster. I’d rather keep things simple.
its a good start but i think you should work on your idea, dont focus on the usb or the internet so much. think big!