Rail Roading
I wonder if at some point in the future we will have a 5 Volt DC rail running through our houses along with the AC power. I envision a future chain e-mail, in whatever incarnation by which it might manifest at the moment, talking about the crazy path all this equipment took toward a standardized 5 Volt supply, similar to that message that circulated some time ago about how the width of the space shuttle was determined by the ancient Romans.
Inductive charging is fascinating, and - if my aging Galaxy S “1” survives for me long enough - looks to be a “must have” feature for my next phone. But those USB cables aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
I wonder if the creators of USB ever imagined that major companies would ship USB cables with their devices that in some cases did not have the signal wire in the cable, but rather just connected the +5V and ground by way of the common format connector. No intention of ever using the cable for data transmission - just power.
I read an article or comment a few days ago that suggested cables themselves would become smarter, citing Apple’s new all-digital connector, which in some cases offloads signal modification or conversion to processing brains within the cable plugs themselves. There was a thought that a clever dedicated device like the Roku might derive a good portion of its value from the ports coming out of it, even if its actual function could be easily replicated by a more general-purpose (or perhaps even more dedicated) device.