Apple came to Intel last year with a really innovative idea.
What if every peripheral someone would want to connect to a computer could hook up to it via a single strand of fiber optic cable? This would include monitors, cameras, keyboards, printers, networks – basically everything short of power. The concept was that the myriad of connectors built into systems today could end up being replaced by a single thin cable.
Intel’s newly announced “Light Peak” hopes to achieve exactly that. Take a look:
Not only could adoption of Light Peak clean up the ‘cable clutter’ associate with the typical computer setup (the same way HDMI has cleaned up the cabling of AV systems), but it could also de-clutter the design of systems themselves! Computers, especially laptops and other portable form factors, would no longer need to be designed around the requirements of a wide range of bulky connectors. A single tiny connector would be the only consideration impacting their design.
This would let system designers avoid the connectivity compromises Apple had to make to in developing an incredibly thin or small device like the Macbook Air:
Enclosures could finally become sleeker and more rounded without forcing people to give up the connectivity they depend on. Even small handheld devices like the iPhone could easily connect to a range of devices without changing its size or form factor.
Apple has always pushed the envelope when it comes to new storage and connectivity options – everything from eliminating floppy drives, to support for USB and Firewire, to ExpressPort, to the ADC video connector and recently the new Mini DisplayPort. In large part this has been driven in service of better, sleeker device designs.
I can’t wait to see what they come out with once Light Peak is available…