1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,080 Do you ever wonder why nearly every external device you connect to a PC uses a USB port? 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,760 Well the simple answer is, because that's a lot better than the way it used to be. 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:14,720 Before USB was around, we had a whole litany of port types, so today we're going to show you 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:19,600 just how annoying it could be to connect your electronics back in the 80s and 90s. 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,880 Let's start out with a port some of you might still be familiar with today, the PS2 port. 6 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:29,760 This chocolate chip cookie looking little guy was introduced not with the PlayStation, 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,080 but in 1987 on the IBM Personal System Slash 2. 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:39,200 It replaced an older connector called the DIN, which was originally an audio connector from the 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:45,200 1950s, but was used as the keyboard connector on the original IBM PC, as well as a tape drive 10 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:51,040 connector on the IBM PC Junior, which was like the IBM PC, but more naive. 11 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:56,720 Once PS2 took over, it was common for systems to include two of them, one for your keyboard and 12 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:02,080 one for your mouse, and color code them purple and green respectively, since each port was 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,840 often coded at a low level to only work with that specific device. 14 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,800 The PS2 port was useful back in the day because it provided a dedicated link on the motherboard 15 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,840 for mice, something older systems didn't always have. 16 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,000 But seeing as how USB provided an equally easy way to connect them, 17 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,840 PS2 ports aren't that common anymore, especially as their pin-based design made them more fragile 18 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,160 than the typical USB port, and they're not technically meant to be hot swapped. 19 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:36,560 However, PS2 ports can still be found on some modern motherboards, usually as a combined 20 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,640 keyboard and mouse port, and that's because they do still have some advantages. 21 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:46,960 PS2 tends to work more reliably with some older BIOSes, and in settings where security is paramount, 22 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:51,600 PS2 ports allow an organization to just disable all USB ports on their computers 23 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,440 to ensure people aren't connecting things like unauthorized flash drives. 24 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:00,160 But the PS2 connector wasn't the only connector for keyboards and mice during the late 80s. 25 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:06,320 This thing is called the Apple Desktop Bus, found on Apple systems starting in 1986. 26 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,480 But it supported more peripherals, like joysticks and graphics tablets, 27 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:17,200 and could even be daisy-chained. But this port too was replaced by USB once the original iMac came out. 28 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:21,360 But let's move on from keyboards and mice and talk about what the heck these things are. 29 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,000 Instead of being intended for a specific use like the keyboard and mouse ports we've discussed, 30 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,520 this guy was kind of the OG do-it-all connection. 31 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:37,440 It's called a serial port, and just like today's USB ports, it's sent or received data one bit at a time. 32 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:45,120 Serial ports were used for all sorts of things. Not only could you connect a mouse to them, but people used them for modems, routers, PC to PC connections, 33 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:50,880 uninterruptible power supplies, text displays, and even old-school smart home hubs. 34 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,360 Although the serial port can still be found today in some specialized applications, 35 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:02,400 older implementations of the port were quite limited in real-world speed to around 9600 bits per second, 36 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:08,960 which, in addition to its clunky design, contributed to its downfall and the rise of USB. 37 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:15,280 Now this big chonker is called a parallel port, also more specifically known as a printer port or 38 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:21,120 1284 port, and was typically labeled LPT followed by a number in Windows. 39 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,920 As the name suggests, it was mainly used for connecting printers and was fairly ubiquitous 40 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:30,720 for this purpose during the 1990s. Although there were some printers that could connect through the 41 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,680 aforementioned serial port, the parallel port became more popular because it could deliver 42 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:42,480 both data and control signals to the printer at the same time. What? Technology. 43 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:48,480 A few other data-heavy devices, including optical drives, zip drives, and even a few MP3 players, 44 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:53,520 also used the parallel port because it could move more data than the serial port. However, 45 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:58,880 it still couldn't do more than around a couple of megabytes per second at most. At high speeds, 46 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,520 it becomes difficult to keep the multiple data streams of a parallel connection synchronized, 47 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,240 which was part of the reason that the parallel port also became displaced by USB, 48 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:14,320 a much faster serial connection. However, both parallel and serial ports are still in use in 49 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:20,400 some industrial and scientific applications as they provide simple interfaces that just work 50 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,920 with older equipment. Finally, we'd like to say a few words about the game port. Somewhere between 51 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:31,760 the parallel and serial ports and physical size, this was a common way to connect joysticks and 52 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:38,400 game paddles in the 1980s and 90s. In the mid-1980s, game ports were often included on expansion 53 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:45,120 cards that also contained other types of ports. But during the 1990s, game ports became very popular, 54 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:50,800 as it was typical for them to be placed on sound cards. And seeing as gamers were a key market for 55 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,880 better sound quality, the game port was a natural choice for a cool value add. Does that mean those 56 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:03,920 sound cards were technically dongles? Hmm. However, the game port could only support a limited number 57 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,800 of buttons without a specialized driver. And on top of that, it was an analog connection, 58 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,040 leaving joysticks vulnerable to electrical noise that could mess with your inputs. 59 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:19,040 USB's digital nature, which allowed easier support for fancier controllers, meant the game port fell 60 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,920 out of fashion quickly during the 2000s. And Windows dropped native support for it starting 61 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:29,360 with Vista. You know, because they had to make room for the important things. Did you use another 62 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:34,160 gone but not forgotten port before the days of USB? Comment down below and you might see your 63 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:39,200 submission in a future episode. But as for this episode, it's over. Thanks for watching. Hey, 64 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,640 like the video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it. Check out our other videos, 65 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,400 comment below with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe and follow 66 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:52,720 using the peripheral of your choice. It could use you at USB, it could not. I don't know.