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Originally Posted by LDBoblo
Flash drive and mp3-player sneakernet is extraordinarily common where I work. I also use them heavily for printing purposes in several offices, as well as at convenience stores. WiFi isn't a substitute, nor is connecting the device to another computer via proprietary dongle. For me, a usb host port would be a great addition.
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again, sounds like a very specialized sort of thing. everyone i know has ipods that carry their music or its on their computer at home. i'm always trying to reference things from a mass consumer point of view.
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I could also see a lot of people seeking to use external storage. "Serious heavy duty computing" has nothing to do with it. The thing is a consumption device, and consumption requires consumables, and consumables take space. I don't have a huge media library myself, though I do know quite a few people who do, and would like to have quick access to it without having to link up to their desktop or notebook which is connected to their external storage.
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but this is supposed to be a portable device. who wants to carry around external storage with them? the point is to either be able to stream content or pre-load it on from your main machine. doesn't that render external storage moot? i know lots of folks that use external storage, but for "typical consumer" use, its usually only done for backup, or unless their onbyoard hard drive is old and too small (like under 150 gigs for example).
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usb peripherals like webcams, microphones, or keyboards would also be nice.
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its got a built in mic, but you can also use bluetooth for that too. i'm sure they'll have something you can hookup through the doc connector as well. as for a keyboard, you've already got bluetooth keyboard support, so i'm not sure why usb keyboard support is all that necessary.
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I think it might be slightly moot though, since IIRC there's a little adapter for the 30-pin to USB or SD or somesuch. I don't know how far peripheral support would go, but a simple flash drive or camera? I'd suspect so.
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i remember that apple stated with the 3.0 software update, that came out last summer, that they were opening up the dock connection port for complete peripheral access, so i'm sure we'll start to see some people utilize this. so it may only be a matter of time before we see some apple-dock to USB cables for a few bucks from various third party companies, etc..