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Being Wired – Anchored to Cables
By Malcolm Hyde | February 8, 2008
In a world intent on going wireless we sure are still pretty much cable dependent. Just last Thursday Internet and telephone services to much of the Middle East were severed when two primary undersea fiber optic cables were damaged. Most people do not realize the enormous dependency we have on not only fiber optics but everyday cables of every description. The term “wired” could never been more true than today.
As much as we would love to rely on wireless communications and even wireless electronics applications, it is obvious that we are still anchored to millions of miles of cables of every possible type and configuration.
From undersea cables carrying the bulk of phone and Internet data to speaker cables driving our sound systems, and even the family vacuum cleaner – our world would come to a virtual half were it not for wires. Here are 4 cables that we simply cannot do without.
- Fiber Optic Data Cables – Because of its special characteristics optical fiber is practically indispensable in communications where distance is a factor. A single fiber optic cable can carry many times more data than conventional electrical cable. Also, fiber optics are virtually immune to electrical interference so signal quality is also enhanced when these are deployed. Without fiber optics modern communications worldwide would not exist.
- Electrical Power Cables - From flexible portable power tool cables to ultra high power electrical transmission wires, power cables are still an absolute necessity for the continuous and efficient distribution and utility of electricity. Just as in the case of fiber optics, there is no reasonable alternative to power cords as of yet.
- Speaker Cables – From high end audio systems in the homes of audiophiles to the music played over office and hospital intercom systems, the sound of music could not reach us without these cables. Speaker cables transfer input data as clearly as possible to the speakers of a sound system. Though wireless alternatives do exist, there is still no substitute (especially for high fidelity sound) for properly designed and constructed speaker cables.
- AV/HDMI Cables - No Xbox, Wii, Playstation, HD TV or a hundred other components would operate properly without employing AV jacks of one kind or another. The old RCA jacks invented back in the 1940’are still widely used for VCR, DVD and other AV applications. HDMI cables are also becoming more commonplace with the advent of HD technology that imagining audio of sound without them seems quite impossible.
It is a little ironic that we tend to think of modern technology as being disconnected from appendages like power cords and speaker cables, when we seem to be even more dependent on them than ever before. As residents of a technological age we are inextricably tied to literally millions and millions of miles or clad wires acting on a myriad of crucial devices that we have come to depend on.
Perhaps the greatest innovations in electronics will not be the extension of wireless networks but in the refinement and improvement of the wires and cables we depend on. An interesting concept if you think about it, but being “wired” looks to be around for a while longer.
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