Four wires and a world of possibilities - USB remains the most ubiquitous PC and PC peripheral connectivity standard in the world. It connects everything from phones to printers, microphones, toys, speakers, to just about anything. Interestingly, USB has become SO widely used, almost everyone knows what it is, but few people understand the technology and the advances in applications. In fact, many people simply take USB for granted. They assume it is the standard by which their new PDA, MP3 player, printer, or external hard drive will connect. For the most part they're right, their new device does connect with USB. And for those devices that ship with a proprietary, or non-standard, connection, it is very likely that the underlying technology making that connect IS USB; some designers just disguise USB as a proprietary connector (can you say Xbox?). But how does USB get into all these devices? What applications are big for USB? What does the future of USB look like? What in the world is the secret of this technology? To view more on this topic, click one of the download links above.
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