Chapter 20: Use Peripherals to Extend Your Mac

How to…

• Learn about all the connectors and plugs on your Mac

• Use different mice and keyboards with your Mac

• Use external hard disks

• Work with removable media

When Apple introduced the first iMac in 1998, they heralded two revolutions that have since changed the personal computer industry. The first was the death of the floppy disk. Apple realized that the floppy disk was becoming useless since files were increasing in size as users added graphics and other multimedia content to them. Try putting any MP3 file more than a minute long (at decent quality) on a floppy disk and you’ll see what I mean. Other PC manufacturers have recently decided to abandon the floppy disk, so, only five years later, the PC industry realized that Apple was right.

The second revolution was the introduction of USB as a standard interface for connecting peripherals. Apple certainly didn’t invent USB, nor were they the first to offer it on computers, but they were the first to offer working support for USB devices. It took Microsoft until Windows 98 Second Edition to provide the same level of functionality.

Before Apple added USB to its computers, you couldn’t find more than a handful of peripherals that connected using this system. After the introduction of the iMac, hardware makers began developing more devices that used USB, and this is now the industry standard for connecting hardware devices to personal computers.

Since all Macs include USB, as well as FireWire and other means of connecting peripherals, you have a wide choice of hardware you can connect to your Mac. In addition, you may be able to use peripherals designed to work on Windows PCs. In this chapter, I’ll talk about the different hardware devices you can use, from mice (with two or more buttons!) to keyboards, and from scanners to hard drives. You’ll see just how much you can connect to your Mac, and how much you can extend its functions and features. And if you’re a gadget freak, you’ll see that you can fulfill your desire with dozens of interesting peripherals for your Mac.