I don't like wires but I do like ports

By Dave Winer on 5/28/10; 12:11:51 PM.

My home computers have been on a diet. I've been retiring hard drives, ones that are under 1TB in size, and replacing them with new 2TB drives. It's been more than 1-for-2 because of the efficiency of larger spaces for backups and videos. And desk-clutter has been dramatically reduced. I can now put my printer on the desk with the computers and disks, router and 24-inch Cinema display. And in the living room, there's space behind the 46-inch Sony HD-TV for more hard drives should I ever want to add them, both on the power strip and on the USB hub. 

So when I read on Engadget that Apple is getting ready to ship a new Apple TV with no ports at all, I thought how horrible, unless -- perhaps they've looked at the wire-mess issue and come up with a wireless way to connect desktop devices like hard disks, printers and external monitors. But I suspect that they haven't, and they believe that the "consumer" doesn't need any local storage.  

Reminds me of a story a Jamaican cab driver told as he was driving me from Montego Bay to Negril. This was a long time ago, when my Jamaican uncle was still alive and I was still a smoker. As we drove through a village, he pointed out the new cottages, and said they had been built by the Cubans. They have all the modern conveniences, running water, indoor plumbing, even electricity. But the people don't want to live in them because Cuban-built houses don't have back doors.  

I asked why do they need back doors?  

He laughed and said, when the police knock on the front door, it's nice to have a back door.  

I've said it before and it's worth saying again. Apple is building the Disney computer network. All the streets are clean, and the entertainment too. There's no porn here, and as long as there are no ports it'll stay that way. But computers are meant to be more than DisneyLand, they are meant to solve societal problems and help our species evolve. That means we must have freedom. And freedom and control are exact opposites. So I'd rather have wire-cluttered desktops and TV stations, than have Apple decide what I can and can't watch.