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Photo and Graphic Design By: Kate Couch
USB Headaches
Photo and Graphic Design By: Kate Couch
Even the inventor of the original USB thinks they’re hard to use: how far has USB come since?
Written By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando
In 2019 Fox News reported the following “Ajay Bhatt, who led the Intel team that created the Universal Serial Bus, told NPR the design of USB ports used to plug in devices such as keyboards, mice, printers and thumb drives is a bit annoying. Frustrated users have created several memes over the years mocking USB devices.” in this article.
It is quite humerus and humble of Bhatt to come out and say this to the world who uses his invention daily. He is referring to the design of the USB which can only be plugged in one way. However, since Bhatt invent the first USB we have come up with faster and newer models.
After the first USB (1.1) was the USB 2.0 which came out in the year 2000. USB 2.0 delivers a maximum transfer speed of 480 Megabits per second compared to the 12 Mbps (megabytes per second) of the original 1.1 USB. 10 years later the USB 3.0 came out. The USB 3.0 was a drastic step up. It delivers 640 Mbps and is 10 times faster. With these improvements, the ability of the USB and USB ports expanded.
The reason why this continuous improvement with extended bandwidth in the USB timeline is so significant is that with every improvement made, the USB can support more technology. The USB 3.0 is the business-class video conferencing standard. USB 3.0 is needed to pass 4k video camera content/webcams, ptz cams, etc. Originally USB could only support low-bandwidth devices like keyboards mouses and printers but now USB can support things like 4K video, excessive amounts of storage, as well as laptop and device charging.
In 2014 USB-C came out. It too was a much faster improvement at 10Gbps which is on the scale of the billions where Mbps is on the scale of the millions. USB 3.0 has a capacity of 5 Gbps making the USB-C twice the speed as its predecessor. The most remarkable thing about the USB-C is that it is reversible. This fixes the 20-year problem of the non-reversible USB that has been long made fun of. It really is ironic that it took us 20 years to fix such an obvious problem but luckily those are all problems of the past! Both the USB 3.0 and the USB-C are used in today’s technology as they are both high bandwidth supporting and extremely fast.
The interesting thing about technology is that even though the USB-C is the freshest thing out there right now in less than five years we will probably have something new and wouldn’t even be able to imagine using the USB-C. The audio-visual world is constantly changing and keeping up with it isn’t always easy. The important thing to keep in mind is to constantly be checking in for new trends and tech; on pages like this or other sites from around the web.
Thanks For Reading!
*This article is Tony Sprando of AV Bends intellectual property. To use or reference this article please contact: Tony@avbend.com*
To know more about Tony and his professional profile see these:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonysprando/
https://www.ravepubs.com/author/tsprando/
To know more about Kate and her professional profile see these:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-couch-a7318220a/
https://k8couch.wixsite.com/katecouch
Whistle While You Work
Photo and Art By: Kate Couch and Canva
Written By: Tony Sprando and Kate Couch
Like many other people, I enjoy listening to (somewhat loud) music while I work. I can zone out of the background noise and get to the important stuff. I have noticed something recently that it is a shared interest, as I also hear other’s loud music while I work. Naturally, this poses a bit of a noise problem, luckily it can be easier to fix than it appears. With most people working in different environments these days little noses add up and can become unbearable. With some quick identification and problem solving you can fix your noise issue before the next work week.
Music has been proven to help improve the efficacy of work. In a study done by, Tayyari, Fariborz, and James L. Smith. “Effect of Music on Performance in Human-Computer Interface.” “It was found that, while the music did not disturb the overall accuracy of the task output, it increased the subjects’ speed in data processing and overall productivity. The subjects showed a favorable attitude toward music being introduced at workstations.” Music can be help keeping us focused but a hindrance when others do it. The solution might seem to stop listing to loud music. This is not always the case. What people forget is our homes are filled with lots of sounds every day and when they get above a certain DB we notice them and they become disturbing.
No offense to my neighbors but their HVAC unit is loud as all get out. Or the sounds of my children running up and down the halls, traffic, and the occasional annoying bird. This can be the difference between getting stuff done and not being able to get in the zone. So now that we have identified a noise issue where the solution can’t be stoping the root of the noise we have a few options.
Door sealing kit.
A door sealing kit is going to be the best option when reducing noise in a small room from outside contributors. You can also do this on the windows as well. This will reduce the amount of noise from the outside getting inside and from the inside getting outside. Contrary to a typical acoustical treatment plan where you might have noise reduction materials on the inside; the objective of this acoustical treatment plan is to prevent small, but loud noises, from outside from getting on the inside.
There’s a little bit of science to this as well. Which has to do with DB. The DB is essentially how loud a noise is. Below is pictured a chart of the common DB of household noise. Figuring out the DB of certain things around your home will help you when making a goal for where you want the noise level to be. The average household with some or no conversation is between 40-60 DB so if you find yourself disturbed by noise a good goal is to get your room back to 60<. Like we mentioned earlier this can most likely be achieved with a door and window sealing kit.
Photo By: Sound Proof Guys
Working at home the noise of neighbors, family members, and roommates can sometimes be disruptive. But when the problems identified you’ll find it with the most basic noise issues there is a basic noise solution.
To know about Tony and his professional profile see these:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonysprando/
https://www.ravepubs.com/author/tsprando/