

The iPad will never have a USB port. - callumjones
http://callumj.com/post/ipad-no-usb.html

======
cheald
Ugh, all this chatter about the iPad as some transcendental post-PC device is
getting _really_ out of hand.

 _With Apple building this post-PC device the plan is to rid users of the
relics which came with computers;_

 _filesystems_ \- because (with very few exceptions) you can't actually
_create content_ on it, and you still have to manage your data through iTunes
which is still very "shackled" to the filesystem. What happened when people
started getting too many apps on their homescreens? Apple gave them folders,
which...emulates a filesystem. What?

 _Windows update_ \- because you never have to update your apps? Sometimes
multiple times per day? And hey, you never have to perform iOS upgrades,
right? You remembered to back up your data, right?

 _setup installers_ \- Sure, given. Apple has streamlined the crap out of the
user end of the "get new software on this device" process.

 _RAM upgrades_ \- Just buy a whole new iPad every year!

 _and USB_ \- This is just a really weird inclusion. USB isn't hard for
people. USB is _really easy_ for people. Everyone knows what a USB plug is and
where it goes. If it plugs in, then your host system can communicate with it.
You don't have to go mess with your system configurations to get your system
to see that there's a USB device plugged in.

The author is probably too young to really remember what computing was like
pre-USB, but serial/parallel ports and COM/LPT port management was a pain in
the ass. Conflating USB with crappy driver software is ridiculous, especially
in the context of the iPad, where the software (and thus, any potential driver
support) is already locked down airtight.

As others have pointed out, there are USB dongles available, as well. The
reason Apple doesn't include a USB port on the iPad is simple: they don't
control USB, the USB spec, or the manufacturers of USB devices. When you have
custom ports and custom specs, you get to sell custom devices and retain
absolute control over who and what interacts with your device.

It's worth noting that Android phones ship with a USB port, and I've yet to
hear _anyone_ of my dozens of family and friends using them complain about it
being too hard or confusing.

~~~
callumjones
-Not many people are going to have content on their PC that needs to get pushed down via iTunes.

-iOS updates are simple, you plug in your device and wait for the update to complete. You'll probably get an update once a month, how many do you get on Windows or OS X?

-Setup is pretty streamlined, press Install and you're done. Nothing asks you for a for a folder location, if the icons should be on the desktop. There's no next button, it's just a one click, type a password and install.

-Or maybe every two years, because right now the iPad 1 is pretty slow.

-USB is hard. You may think it's easy because you're used it it but people still have have trouble figuring out if this XXXX usb tuner will work with their "Windows".

-You're correct, I just started using computers when USB hit the scene. But just because it was harder back then doesn't make it easy now.

-They're not called USB dongles.

------
dstein
_USB use amongst users is just too hard._

Where exactly did he get this conclusion? USB is the easiest peripheral
interface ever made, that's why it's popular.

He is correct that the iPad will never have a USB port. But not because of
ease of use -- actually it's because of the opposite. Apple has a very long
history of choosing interfaces that are incompatible with the PC. Does anyone
still remember the first iPod was Firewire and Mac-only? Purposeful
incompatibility is what Apple has always aimed for, and they continue to do it
today on all their computers and devices.

------
ja27
My kid's $69 DVD player has a USB port. I don't expect it to support a TV
tuner, but it works with any FAT32 storage I've stuck in it.

~~~
callumjones
Not many users know what "FAT32" is.

~~~
code_duck
Users don't need to know what it is, the device does! The important thing is
that most every USB mass-storage device uses FAT32 - memory sticks, camera
cards, phones...

------
Terretta
My iPad has a USB port.. it's a dongle, and everything from keyboards to
headphones works.

------
ck2
It won't have a USB port only so they can sell you one for $30

<http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531ZM/A>

It's apple, duh of course it's going to cost more money.

------
2muchcoffeeman
"Removing the relic USB means Apple can say to users, whatever you plug into
this thing just works."

I think it is more about getting people used to what Apple thinks the future
of personal computing should be like.

It's like the PADDs on Star Trek <http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/PADD>. You
never see them plug their PADDs into anything. Or plug anything into their
PADDs.

------
goombastic
Sometimes I assume that I am an archaeologist digging up some of these
devices. Without the context of Steve jobs, brand apple etc, such decisions
might look odd given that everything else at the time seemed to have USB ports
etc.

------
talmai
but when you buy the iPad, you have to sync it to the computer in order to use
it right?!? I'll take the USB port any day over having to sync to iTunes...

and "if the package says Made for iPad buy it and it will work as soon as you
plug it in" -> this is the whole concept behind having USB drivers for a
certain platform/OS. _if_ I have the driver for OSX, it will work...

Apple might never add a USB port.. but they will surely come out with a dongle
_sarcasm_

~~~
callumjones
It's not about a trade off between syncing or a USB port.

At least the Made for iPad is a program that places guarantees that it works,
it's controlled and places confidence in the user that this product is pretty
much worry free.

------
tayl0r
iOS devices have a USB port- it's called the dock connector. What is so hard
to understand about this?

