Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple • Hacker News Board

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#41

Post by lukeschlather » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 1:34 AM UTC

ddw wrote: post #29

It would be interesting if Cisco will take advantage of this in any way to allow the control of their networking devices. Not that it's too hard to plug in with an old laptop, but still, the iPad is convenient. It's a little confusing to me why Apple makes it so hard for people to use their devices in customer specific ways like this cable. I read a while back that TV networks like CNN and ESPN were using iPads to co…

People use old laptops, as I understand it, because the USB adapters aren't incredibly reliable at acting like a real serial port.

I can't imagine that the emulation this does would be more stable than USB adapters that have had years to iron out the kinks.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#42

Post by blantonl » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 1:41 AM UTC

mcantelon wrote: post #39

Hilarious that Apple has to "allow" you to use one piece of hardware you own with another. Only in the world of Apple would a $60 serial cable be news.

we'll see that cable show up on Ebay for $3.99 USD in a matter of a few months.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#43

Post by meatsock » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 2:10 AM UTC

clumsysmurf wrote: post #36

From the features section, it says "Enables development of iOS apps for private use in homes, schools and offices" Is it possible to also use this for non-private apps - that is - apps submitted to the App Store?

if it was possible, it'd have made the 'features' list without that disclaimer.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#44

Post by runjake » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 2:13 AM UTC

blantonl wrote: post #42

mcantelon wrote: post #39

Hilarious that Apple has to "allow" you to use one piece of hardware you own with another. Only in the world of Apple would a $60 serial cable be news.

we'll see that cable show up on Ebay for $3.99 USD in a matter of a few months.

Last I heard, the cable uses some proprietary Apple chip that does some sort of authentication. I could be wrong.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#45

Post by noonespecial » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 2:19 AM UTC

Android: The $49/Night hotel with the free continental breakfast and free wifi. (But there might be roaches in the rooms)

Ipad: The $349/Night hotel that charges you $25 if you open the little fridge and $45/hour for the wifi that never quite works. (But the elevators have chrome, move fast and are never out of order. No roaches.)

There's no reason in the world that a $350 room shouldn't come with free wifi and snacks when a $50 one does, but they never do. Watch out, that bottle of VOSS is $15...

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#46

Post by endgame » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 3:07 AM UTC

blhack wrote: post #40

geoka9 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would think that at least geeks would be appalled by Apple and avoid their products because of this. But every geek I know (save one or two) is raving about their Apple gadgets.

You can make that three geeks. I got pretty upset earlier this week. I wanted to do a site-survey of the wireless network that covers my company's campus. The iPad is a wonderful tool for this, you'd think. It has a wifi chip, and a GPS. What I wanted was to drive around and pair signal strengths with GPS locations. Except I can't do this on my iPad because Apple doesn't want me to. The API for getting wifi signal st…

Four geeks.

Proprietary control (at the software or hardware level) isn't some abstract bogeyman that only Free Software Hippies need to worry about. It's a very real threat.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#47

Post by sebastianavina » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 3:19 AM UTC

KeithMajhor wrote: post #28

sebastianavina wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's easier, and cheaper, and more accesible to play around with a RS-232 cable... I've like 4 USB-RS232 adapters, and it's very easy to implement the protocol even on the dirtiest and cheaper chips...

Here is a Bluetooth breakout like I described: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10559 It's cheaper than the cable. You don't need to implement any protocols.

don't you realize that your chip is an bluetooth-serial interface?

at the end, you'll have to implement RS-232 on your microcontroller to get access from that bluetooth chip...

> Fully configurable UART > Press the 'A' character from a terminal program on your computer and an 'A' will be pushed out the TX pin of the Bluetooth module.

Yes, they are talking about THAT terminal and THAT TX pin...

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#48

Post by jrockway » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 3:38 AM UTC

runjake wrote: post #44

blantonl wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we'll see that cable show up on Ebay for $3.99 USD in a matter of a few months.

Last I heard, the cable uses some proprietary Apple chip that does some sort of authentication. I could be wrong.

If only there was some country with good electronics copying abilities and no regard for intellectual property...

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#49

Post by econgeeker » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 4:03 AM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #45

Android: The $49/Night hotel with the free continental breakfast and free wifi. (But there might be roaches in the rooms) Ipad: The $349/Night hotel that charges you $25 if you open the little fridge and $45/hour for the wifi that never quite works. (But the elevators have chrome, move fast and are never out of order. No roaches.) There's no reason in the world that a $350 room shouldn't come with free wifi and snack…

I don't understand this comparison. Android tablets have not proven to be cheaper than the iPad (adjusting for screen size).

It is true that this cable is overpriced, but that is simply because there isn't a big demand for serial cables, and thus only one company (so far) has made one.

Apple's "approval" process is like the approval process for the appstore-- they just want to make sure stuff isn't going to take you to the back alley and mug you. Roach motels don't care.

So, I'd say, iPad is $49/night, with a deluxe breakfast, optical internet, and nobody takes you in the back alley and mugs you.

Re: Serial cable for iPod approved by Apple

#50

Post by jasonemerick » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 4:04 AM UTC

ddw wrote: post #29

It would be interesting if Cisco will take advantage of this in any way to allow the control of their networking devices. Not that it's too hard to plug in with an old laptop, but still, the iPad is convenient. It's a little confusing to me why Apple makes it so hard for people to use their devices in customer specific ways like this cable. I read a while back that TV networks like CNN and ESPN were using iPads to co…

The same company makes a console cable: http://www.redpark.com/c2rj45.html