A brief design rant
Posted by David on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 7:32 AM.
Postulate 1: Tower cases for computers are designed to be placed on the floor, under the desk.
Postulate 2: USB ports on the front of a computer are there for "quick access", to stick in temporary USB devices, like flash memory.
Given those two postulates, WTF was Dell thinking when they designed the tower case on my new machine at work? Not only are the front USB ports hidden by a flip-up cover, but they are angled down. Which means, if I want to use them, I have to be in the same position I was in to take this picture.
Christian, on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 11:47 AM:
These are all over the UH system and they're an absolute pain in the ass. I've seen people contorting themselves around the back of the system, not realizing they can flip up the lid to access the USB ports. And once you find the ports, it's nearly impossible to get the flash drive inserted.
I try to point out the lid whenever possible, but usually end up embarrassing the person, who invariably feels stupid for turning themselves into a pretzel trying to get at the back of the machine.
David Adam Edelstein, on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 12:30 PM:
This is why I aspire to design things like my Leica. Every feature is completely visible. Nothing is hidden.
Of course, they're also notoriously tricky to load the film properly... but nothing's perfect.
Timothy, on Thursday, March 10, 2005 at 2:01 PM:
...hhmmm
Why don't you turn it upside down? The it will be perfect.
David Adam Edelstein, on Thursday, March 10, 2005 at 2:03 PM:
Duh... then all the memory would drain out.
BlueNiner, on Saturday, March 12, 2005 at 5:15 PM:
The other 'feature' of this is the cheap plastic mounting clips that hold the actual USB ports in place. You'll find that under minimal use they develop 'give' that allows the USB ports to slide back into the case as you insert your USB device. This is just enough give that it 'feels right' but can't make a solid connection so it wont work. You literally have to open the case and push the USB ports back into place. (happens all the time at school)
I understand the cover idea to maintain the sleek profile look, but there's no reason why the cover doesn't have a USB symbol on it. Also the cover forces the 'downward' slant as its clear they thought you you'd only plug stuff in temporarly and that also that you could close the cover while the device was plugged in.
Bad design... very bad design...
Laura Z., on Thursday, March 17, 2005 at 3:37 PM:
I've always thought this was a stupid design - even when the towers are sitting on top of desks (i.e. at Kinkos), it is still devilishly difficult to get to those drives!