Mac Pro: Take 3 – The Weird USB Extension Cord
The Mac Pro doesn’t come with many extras: a keyboard and mouse, of course, a DVI-VGA adapter, so you can connect an older monitor, and installation DVDs, a small user’s guide, and some other papers. And two white Apple stickers.
But it also comes with a weird USB extension cord (see the above photo). This cord is weird because it is designed to work only with Apple keyboards. As you can see in the photo, the female end of the cord has a nib in it, which corresponds to a groove on the male end of the keyboard’s USB plug. Why does Apple include a USB extension cord that you cannot use for anything but the Apple keyboard? Seriously, this is stupid. It means that, if have a different keyboard, you can’t use the extension cord. Or if you simply want to use it for something else–such as your mouse–you can’t!
This is the first time I’ve ever seen a proprietary USB extension cord, and I certainly hope it’s the last. Since I’m not using the Apple keyboard (I prefer Microsoft’s ergonomic keyboards) I won’t be using it. What a waste.
I’d love to know which nitwit at Apple came up with this idea. (Steve, tell me it wasn’t you…)
Check out the Mac Pro. It’s a great, quiet, fast machine. And, if you buy from Amazon.com, you can take advantage of a $150 rebate. What a machine…
Coming installments of this series will discuss the computer’s speed, its innards, and much more.
See previous installments:
Mac Pro: Take 1 – The Quietest Desktop Mac Ever
Mac Pro: Take 2 – The Power of Spotlight
Apple’s been shipping these since at least the Power Mac MDD days. You’re
right. It’s extremely frustrating (especially since I don’t use Apple’s keyboard).
Thanks for the heads-up. This is the first dekstop Mac I’ve bought in years, so
I’ve never seen this cord before.
It’s still stupid. :-)
Thanks for pointing out is is for the keyboard. Funny, I have two of these and I
never figured out why they shipped the stupid things with my Macs. I trew them
in a drawer, where they still are, untill this day.
Can you spare the weird cord? I have a need for one. If you have noticed the Apple keyboard USB cords are rather short and I need to reach around the back and to the floor where my CPU is….long story short I sure would like to have one!!
Robert