On Oct 27, 2011, at 11:48 AM, Bruce Johnson wrote: > On Oct 27, 2011, at 11:09 AM, Dan wrote: > >> >> It would help if Apple provided USB buses that had a little xtra umph to >> them. Really irks me that the externals that spin fine on a cheap (<$600) >> HP laptop just sit there and keep trying to spin on a MBP. > > I believe there is a sign, carved in granite above the doors to Apple > Engineering that say (right under the line that says 'Abandon all sleep all > ye who enter...' :-) > > "Thou shalt never specify sufficient power". > > I (emphatically NOT fondly) recall replacing the power supplies in both my > Apple II and my Mac Plus.... > > On the other hand, Apple does tend to follow standards to the letter, much to > the pain of folks who kinda sorta fudge it (see: every other damn mail client > in the world that gets confused by a multipart MIME email message with more > than one text part....), odds are that Apple's USB ports do adhere to the > standard, no more, no less.
AFAIK that's correct about Apple. A lot of manufacturers really blow it, drawing too much power from USB on the hope that the computer manufacturer isn't hitting the spec any better. Then there are the laptops that provide little or no power to their USB ports. The problem with USB is that it isn't, Universal. Or as I like to put it, the wonderful thing about Standards is that everyone does them differently. Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list