This post sums up the proper response:Sam Posten said:
Figuring out the correct orientation for a USB cable is a two second effort, so even the dual sidedness is hardly some digital miracle.
Pricing is a different issue over usefulness or necessity. It is no secret Apple charges a premium for accessories and always will. I agree that it sucks and that I would like to see Belkin and other reputable vendors be able to sell these cables for less. I took issue with the 'no technical reason', not the value proposition.Hanson said:
Sam Posten said:
ThisSam Posten said:
I want to live in the future. Pity WebOS died; this had a chance at traction three years ago.mattCR said:
Not this. Robert elegantly captures the essence of those who care about the nuances of usability in their gadgets and those who don't.RobertR said:
And so on.
After demoing ios7, I jokingly told my wife that it was going to give me vertigo, the sense of falling into folders was so strong. So I'm not terribly shocked that some are having motion sickness from the new graphics.Apple seems to have put of effort into accessibility features, so hopefully they'll offer some changes to those that are made physically ill by such graphical motions.Hanson said:
Thanks for that. I wanted a 4" and 6' cable, so I bought from Monoprice. The Apple brand cable is now my travel cable, per the insight that monoprice is more prone to bending failure. If need another 3' cable, I'll buy Apple for the better quality and nearly the same price. But the 6' are very expensive.
im still befuddled by Maps. The map is fine for navigating, turn by turn. But Apples traffic is in the suburbs worthless. Google knows about and displays traffic congestion in real time at my local intersection. Apple knows nothing about it. I'm also uncertain if Apple incorporates traffic into estimated travel time. I find I need to check both apps before leaving in potential busy traffic. But I need to play with google maps more, since Apple Maps is currently untrustworthy on traffic.
Creepage and clearance
The UL regulations[14] require safe separation between the high voltage and the low voltage. This is measured by creepage - the distance between them along the circuit board, and clearance - the distance between them through air. The regulations are complex, but in general there should be at least 4mm between high-voltage circuitry and low-voltage circuitry.
iPad
The iPad charger provides safe creepage and clearance distances between the primary high-voltage side (bottom) and secondary low-voltage side (top).
The image above shows how the genuine iPad charger's circuit board separates the high voltage (bottom) from the low voltage (top). The happy face on the right marks an empty region that provides a safety gap between the primary and secondary. (This is a contrast with the rest of the circuit board, which is crammed full of components.) This gap of 5.6mm provides a comfortable safety margin. The happy face on the left marks a slot in the board that separates the low voltage and high voltage. The photo below shows how an insulating fin is built into the case and through this slot to protect the USB connector. Additional reddish-brown insulating tape goes through this slot, and the whole high-voltage section is wrapped in yellow insulating tape. The result is multiple layers of protection.
iPad
The iPad charger case has a plastic fin that slides around the USB port to provide extra insulation.
The creepage distance on the counterfeit charger board below is scary - only 0.6 mm separation between low and high voltage. The sad face on the right shows where a low-voltage trace is nearly touching the high-voltage trace below. (The ruler on the right indicates millimeters.) The board isn't as bad as it could be: the happy face on the left marks a slot cut in the circuit board under the transformer to increase the creepage distance. But overall, this board is unsafe. If you use the charger in a humid bathroom and a drop of water condenses across the 0.6 mm gap, then zap!
Counterfeit
Dangerous creepage in a counterfeit iPad charger.
Safety in the transformer
For safety, the high-voltage and low-voltage sides of the charger must be electrically isolated.[15] But obviously the electrical power needs to get through somehow. The flyback transformer accomplishes this task by using magnetic fields to transfer the power without a dangerous direct connection. Because the transformer is a large and relatively expensive component, it is tempting to take safety and quality short cuts here. The genuine transformer (left) is considerably larger than the counterfeit (right), which is a hint of better quality and more power capacity. Disassembling the transformers shows that this is the case.
iPad
Counterfeit
The flyback transformers from an iPad charger (left) and a counterfeit charger (right). Dime and banana are for scale.
The key safety requirement of the transformer is to separate the high-voltage windings from the low-voltage secondary winding, and the counterfeit charger fails here. The pictures below show the transformers after removing primary windings and insulating tape, revealing the secondary winding. The wires look similar at first glance, but the the genuine charger (left) has triple-insulated wire while the counterfeit (right) is uninsulated except for a thin varnish. The triple-insulated wire is an important safety feature that keeps the high voltage out even if there is a flaw in the insulating tape and in the wire's insulation. Also note the additional black and white insulation on the wires where they leave the transformer. In the counterfeit charger, the only thing separating the secondary winding from high voltage is the insulating tape. If there is a flaw in the tape or the wires shift too far, then zap!
