"USB 3.0 achieves the much higher performance by way of a number of technical changes. Perhaps the most obvious change is an additional physical bus that is added in parallel with the existing USB 2.0 bus. This means that where USB 2.0 previously had 4 wires (power, ground, and a pair for differential data), USB 3.0 adds 4 more for two pairs of differential signals (receive and transmit) for a combined total of 8 connections in the connectors and cabling. These extra two pairs were necessary to support the SuperSpeed USB target bandwidth requirements, because the two wire differential signals of USB 2.0 were not enough.

Furthermore, the signaling method, while still host-directed, is now asynchronous instead of polling. USB 3.0 utilizes a bi-directional data interface rather than USB 2.0's half-duplex arrangement, where data can only flow in one direction at a time. Without getting into any more technical mumbo jumbo, this all combines to give a ten-fold increase in theoretical bandwidth, and a welcome improvement noticeable by anyone when SuperSpeed USB products hit the market."

http://www.everythingusb.com/superspeed-usb.html

Basically USB runs in some fundamentally different, more efficient ways than USB 2 did. So it's not like they just 'sped up' USB 2.0. To put it in car terms USB 1 -> 2 was like taking a 4-banger and throwing a supercharger on it. USB 2 -> 3 is more like trading in your 4 cylinder econobox for V8 sportster. The backward compatibility really is possible because there just happens to be enough room in the plugs to put the same old 4/5 pin arrangement from the old standard along with all the pins for the new standard. They won't both be used all at the same time.

If I'm wrong somewhere in there, please correct me...

Not really a lot of Jerry-rigging required if you're willing to pay ~$30

http://www.maxivista.com/multi_monitor.htm

Of course, I'm pretty sure there are one or two free alternatives out there. Just google "Use laptop as second disply"...

Probably not, but I doubt Will Smith would go along with something like this. And aside from him I don't know of any rappers with national celebrity who DON'T sing about drugs and hoes. Do you ?

Aside from Wierd Al of course, who come to think of it makes more sense as a rapper mascot for HP...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky-JTAPhmUo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsfVw9xxoNY

As to the former: There appears to be an SD card hanging out of it. Even my quirky as heck Razorbook 400 (a similar device in principle also running Win CE) handles a 16GB SDHC card just fine. I'm pretty sure you can put several hours of 720p video on that...

As to the latter: I would posit, VIDEO OUT to a display that can handle 720p ?

""the president is personally committed to finding the right person for this job, and a rigorous selection process is well under way."

I nominate Jeff Bridges! Failing him , Matthew Broderick. And if neither of them is available, Laurence Fishburn...

Oh they probably COULD have uploaded it to the eh, 'Net'...but who wants to watch the ~20 odd hour upload at 28.8kbps (33.6 with compression) that they could envision in those days...

Not to mention the fact that it would have tied up the line and prevented that sweet voicemail transcribing...

Well, there's always these...

http://www.cybernetman.com/

@Tonicboy

"I'd like to know a single person here who has replaced their keyboard more than their monitor."

Ok...here I am.

At first I had a basic 101-key kayboard that I was totally satisfied with, then I switched to a newer one that had better tactile feedback. Then I switched to a Japanese keyboard because I was enrolled in Japanese language classes and was typing in Japanese quite frequently. Then I switch to a new keyboard with multimedia control buttons and a Audio/IO jacks and an integrated USB hub. THEN I changed monitors for a 19" crt to a wide screen 19" FP.

Then there was my OTHER desktop machine. It had a 17" crt, started out with yet another non-descript 101-key keyboard. It then inherited the Japanese keyboard from the other machine. Then it got a new USB 101-key key board that worked with the new KVM I added. Then I switched to a wireless KB for that system. THEN I changed the monitor to a 17" FP.

Now I realize that's probably not the typical usage pattern, but you asked for a single person...there you go.

"I don't expect that to be considered a paltry amount of RAM at least for three years, give or take a few months. That's future proofing. With Snow Leopard, the hardware I got is going to feel completely new when it comes out."

4GB ? I dunno if 'paltry' is the word. Standard....mediocre...average...THOSE are probably the words I'd use. Thanks to Vista's gluttonous appetite for RAM 4GB certainly isn't going to impress anyone these days...

Of course, with Win 7 dropping in the fall, I think we're going to finally see some strides forward in the move to general 64-bit processing, which opens the flood gates as far as RAM is concerned. And with DDR3 stepping down into the main stream, I'd say within 1 year of Win 7's launch, 6GB of RAM will be standard for anything but low end systems and netbooks, with 8GB and 12GB fairly common as well.

Then again if YOU personally are still running the same os on your iMac that you are now (or at least will be shortly) 1 - 3 years from now it won't make any difference how much RAM anyone else has, your system should work just as well as ever.

But as far as future proofing for a phone, particularly something *trendy* like an iPhone, what's the point ? Why future proof a device that you replace every 12 - 18 months anyway ? By the time you can say, 'Cool, now the network speed has finally caught up to my phone, I sure am glad I paid the extra and got the high end model last year so I can take advantage of it...' you'll already be about to buy the NEXT one anyway.

You can do it of course, but it kinda seems like a null advantage to me...

How ironic there should be a RadioShack ad right on this page for a $15 4GB Class 2 SDHC card from Radio Shack. 4x$15 = $60...factor in the convenience cost for having all in one package ant that pricing is right in line with this.

Thanks...but I'll stick to buying new 16GB Class 4 SDHC cards off ebay for ~$13 (Shipped). I've been happy with all the ones I've gotten so far...