Ten years ago the "Easidock USB 300" made things easy.
April 1, 2010 Post a Comment Friday, April 2nd, 2010 Netcast 1060. Back to Dick's Gadget Warehouse
The Easidock with power supply, cable & CD.The Easidock USB 300 from Dick’s Gadget Warehouse was created by Mobility Electronics about the year 2000. A key problem with notebook computers back then was when you had to unhook the peripherals like printers, disc drivers, etc. when you took it on the road. And again when you brought it back to home base. You had to spend time configuring and plugging in external keyboards, disc drives, and printers back into it. Back then printers used the parallel port – and unlike ‘plug & play’ of today, many devices needed to be powered off, along with the computer, before the cables could be disconnected. The Easidock USB 300 removed that time-waster. All those devices plugged into the 8.25 x 3 x 1 inch box. Then a cable from it connected to a USB port on the back of the notebook computer. So when you left home and returned you only had to worry about one cable. The system's software managed all the devices for you. (But it loaded each device driver each time you plugged it in and it took quite a bit of time for everything to get loaded into your laptop.) The Easidock had four (1.0) USB ports, a serial and parallel port, and two drives that could take Compact Flash (Type I or II) or SmartMedia cards. Yes, we still use docks today, but thankfully they hook up in seconds and are plug and plug. Back then the Easidock cost $179 US. (Today Mobility seems to have become, or merged with iGo, the folks who make all sorts of charging devices for our portable electronics.
Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1060
