nerdnet

I just headed back east to work on a project in Virginia. I discovered that I needed a small USB cable for my printer and headed to CompUSA to see what they had. To my surprise, all I could find was Belkin cables, and every one of them cost more than twenty dollars. A salesperson approached me offering assistance, and I asked him if they had any other USB cables. He told me that the Belkin cables were the only ones they had in the store. I pointed out that on the CompUSA website they listed a six foot USB cable for less than 2.00, and that I refused to pay twenty dollars or more for a six foot cable with four conductors and some shielding. He seemed annoyed at this and would assist me no further. I took my business to a local electronics store and picked up a fine USB cable for about three dollars. My concern is this: what does the average consumer do who doesn't know any better?

My guess is that a lot of people who don't know enough about the technology they purchase are being cheated on an alarming basis. I know that to many tech savvy web users, I am just stating the obvious. If it's so obvious though, why do these companies still get away with charging so much money for such a cheap item. How many other simple items do people get shafted on? Many of the cables I saw at CompUSA were covered with gimmicks like "Gold plated connectors!" and "USB 2.0 Certified!" Most people don't realize that 90% of all USB cables these days work just fine at USB 2.0 speeds, and that gold plating the connectors works best for minimizing corrosion, it doesn't ultimately increase the speed of your USB connection (saving a few ohms of resistance won't change a thing.) Also, most USB devices will never come close to utilizing the full bandwidth of USB 2.0. My printer just doesn't need 480Mbps.

What can be done to make a difference? I think its quite simple, just help keep people informed. Friends don't let friends pay twenty dollars or more for four pieces of wire and some shielding.