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Organizing Camera And Computer Accessories And Cords

When the first personal computers were launched there were very few accessories you can connect to them. Some had a single case for the screen and keyboard so you just needed to plug it in a power outlet, which meant only one cord traveling down from the top of the table to the wall outlet or a power bar on the floor. While in practice even one cord can get tangled, it usually wouldn’t create notable problems.

Today an average computer has at least six USB ports, a COM port, one LPT (parallel port), one LAN port, at least three audio inputs/outputs, a VGA port, two PS2 ports …and so on. This high level of connectivity can lead you to purchase and use at least 15-20 accessories with only one computer.

In this case organizing camera and computer accessories and cords becomes a serious problem, because if 10 cord get tangled and you quickly need to remove one, all kinds of things can happen from extreme cursing to ripping some cords or damaging some plugs and ports.

The first step to prevent such a situation is to mark each wire so you can quickly identify the one you may want to pull out. Cordotz is one of the manufacturers that makes plastic tags for wires, which are both useful and pleasant to look at. The retractable USB cable is also a great idea, but must laptop users are already familiar with such products, all laptop accessory kits include at least a mouse with a retractable cable, some even have retractable LAN, audio and modem cables.

These accessories come in handy around desktops too, because fixed length cables are almost never the right size.

Manufacturers are working on the problem, almost every computer accessory can be bought in a wireless version too. Keyboards and mice are amongst the best candidates for wireless, because they are perfected to a very high level, two AA (rechargeable) batteries can last up to 6-12 months on a single charge.

Webcams unfortunately need a lot of power and cannot run on batteries for a long time, so manufacturers simply skipped the wireless solution, but they’ve managed to put webcams in monitors above the LCD panel, just like in laptops.

Although this solution doesn’t really reduce the number of cables because a USB cable will have to be plugged into the monitor, but at least the webcam is in an optimal position for video chat and you don’t have to worry about it falling off (like the models that grip the top of the monitor). For digital cameras developers have come up with the strangest idea to transfer pictures to your computer: a Wi-Fi memory card.

It makes sense if you think about it, this way it can be fitted in any digital camera without having to modify it’s hardware. You just insert the card into the slot and it becomes a small wireless file server.

This invention really eliminates the need for an extra USB cable.

Organizing camera and computer accessories and cords is much easier if you use as many wireless accessories as possible. Printers were amongst the first accessories to receive a LAN module, but today they also have Wi-Fi for easy access.

Power cords are still in the works, today the best way to eliminate them is by using electromagnetic induction, just like traditional transformers, but with separated circuits one in the laptop and the other on the table (or somewhere nearby). The problem with this technology is its low efficiency, because power has to travel long distances. Today there are working prototypes that send power with ~25% efficiency over distances of a couple of feet. More feasible is its use in mobile phone to charge, although efficiency is still not so good even when surfaces are almost touching.