“In 1998, Steve Jobs bet Apple’s future on a cable,” Michael Simon writes for Macworld. “At a time when the best PCs were still being built with serial and SCSI ports, Apple opted to fit the iMac with a pair of newfangled USB ports, which offered the kind of clutter-free simplicity Apple craved.”
“The only problem? USB wasn’t exactly universal at the time,” Simon writes. “Not only was it struggling to take off with Wintel users, there were exactly zero peripherals for the Mac that utilized USB when the iMac made its debut. Still, Jobs went all-in on a bet that Apple’s Bondi Blue all-in-one was so desirable people would buy it in droves and subsequently force the industry to change.”
“Of course, we all know how that bet paid off,” Simon writes. “The iMac was every bit the success Steve knew it would be, and USB didn’t just change Macs; it became the communication standard in virtually every device we use. And now it looks like Apple is moving toward the adoption of yet another nascent technology that has the potential to transform the landscape just like USB did: Li-Fi.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Think massive speed coupled with added security and simplicity.
SEE ALSO:
iOS code reveals ultra fast, light-based Li-Fi wireless data for future iPhones – January 19, 2016
Li-Fi: 100 times faster than Wi-Fi, tests prove – November 25, 2015
I don’t get where the “massive speed” is supposed to come from. Data over wires already moves at light speed.
Maybe this will help:
From MDN’s Take:
SEE ALSO:
iOS code reveals ultra fast, light-based Li-Fi wireless data for future iPhones – January 19, 2016
Li-Fi: 100 times faster than Wi-Fi, tests prove – November 25, 2015
See, it isn’t about data over wires.
(I’m actually with you, though. I still keep everything that matters plugged in – no issues with dropped connections, speed, etc.)
n=c/v…slower than light speed due to refractive index of the materials used, among other things 😉
Actually, electrical signals do not move at the speed of light through wires – probably closer to 0.6c for Cat5 cable.
But the “massive speed” is actually a bandwidth issue and does not refer to the actual speed of the signal. Light is terahertz (THz) frequency and Wi-Fi is gigahertz (GHz) frequency (2.4GHz and 5.0 GHz for current Wi-Fi). The three orders higher frequency enables substantially increased bandwidth.
When I bought my first Mac in 2001, I was able to find exactly one two-button USB mouse on sale at Best Buy. Every other mouse was either a serial mouse, or it used that PC standard with the cylindrical plug the name for which escapes me.
A little over a year later, I’m buying another Mac for my girlfriend, and ALL the mice on sale were USB.
You just didn’t bet against Jobs. He really had a knack for seeing the future.
——RM
This is Line Of Sight technology. As such, it cuts out mobility of devices. For short distance (relatively) nailed down systems, such as a cubical farm, it might be of interest.
Otherwise, all I’m reading is lots of hypety-hype-hype. Beware.
Exactly.
Want to put a computer under your desk and use Li-Fi to go to a monitor? Not possible.
Want to put a computer on the other side of your monitors from a printer? Not possible (unless the monitors are strategically placed so that there is a direct line of sight between the computer and printer)
Want to hook your computer to a NAS or router? Not possible unless they’re sitting virtually next to each other.
The restrictions on this are pretty severe. Cables (USB, ThunderBolt, Lightning, etc.) are not going away any time soon.
You’ll see 50 Gbps Wi-Fi before you see Li-Fi have wide spread adoption.
How does a bright idea (Li-Fi) work in a Lights-Out (i.e. Mac-based servers) situation? Will Li-Fi work better in a dim-lit room or in direct sunlight?
Does all communication die when a person walks between the send and receive devices or can communicating devices redirect to the ceiling or floor?
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who will ubiquitiously communicate with all?
All connects through LED bulbs. Every connection issue you just raised is moot.
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