Saturday, July 3, 2010

Decluttering the Cables: 8 Resources for Identifying What You Have



Do you, like so many people, have a bunch of old electronics - including assorted cables - lying around somewhere?

If you want to clean up your collection, it may help to know just what it is that you have. And if, like me, you're not enough of a technology expert to recognize every cable on sight, the following resources may help.

General Guides:

1. The wonderful drawing shown above, by Wendy MacNaughton, and used with her permission; found via Gizmodo.

2. A World of Cables - a sideshow from the New York Times. [via popgadget]

3. A Visual Guide to Computer Cables and Connectors.

4. Giz Explains: An Illustrated Guide to Every Stupid Cable You Need.


More Detailed Information:

5. Cable Table.

6. Identify cable connectors.

7. Cables to Go: Connector Guide.


Information about specific cables:

8. KVM cables. This is the web site of one of many vendors; it has some decent pictures. Until recently I had no clue what a KVM cable was; the pictures here are helpful if you're also in the dark. (Note: KVM = Keyboard, Video or Visual Display Unit, Mouse)


Other posts in the cable management series:
Cords and Cables - and Labels
Controlling the Cables with Cable Ties
4 Ways to Control the LONG Cables and Cords
Controlling the Cables: 3 Novel Solutions

1 comment:

SueBK said...

I love the first picture. But there's now confusion because USB plugs come in different sizes. I only found out because my new phone has a different size plug to everything else in the house, but it is actually a "standard" size, not a special one-off version.
I'm waiting for when they make USB adaptors, so I can use some the old cords I've got hanging about the house.