Spaghetti Juncture
Today I finally got around to buying a pair of tiny speakers for Galaxia, my delightful Mac mini. I have gone for almost a year with a sound card but no speakers, so I (a) play music through my DVD player, or (b) strain my ears to hear the faint sounds issuing from my puter. Not any more!
On the box, in 10 different languages, it said 'simply plug and play'. The instruction booklet, also in 10 different languages showed how to insert the power plug into the power outlet, & a list of warnings and prohibitions. The power outlet looked nothing like an Australian one, but that was OK, because the plug on the end of the cord looked nothing like the diagram but was the right one for Australia. So I went to plug and play.
Naturally it wasn't as simple as that - tho' the final step was. I had reached the spaghetti juncture -- the point at which I had to sort out all the cords & cables curling around behind my monitor, down the back of my desk and into something Laocoon & his sons would have to fight.
It took me over an hour. Every item of electric/electronic equipment in my home office has its own power supply, with the exception of the desk lamp (which has a power cord, of course). Galaxia, the back-up hard drive Foo, the large monitor, the cordless phone, the router, the multi-purpose printer. And now the new speakers!
First I had to crawl under my bed to get the second power board from the bedroom, (thus depriving myself of the use of the bedside lamp for the foreseeable future), then I had to unplug and disentangle eight power cords, plus assorted other cables, work out what belonged to what, & the best way to rearrange them - & convince them to behave!
It all looks wonderfully neat & organised now, with all power packs labelled, and everything tucked neatly into the two powerboards, which I hope will stay balanced on the little shelf I managed to create for them. And yes, the speakers were indeed 'plug and play' when I got to that step.
So now I have music while I work (or play solitaire).
On the box, in 10 different languages, it said 'simply plug and play'. The instruction booklet, also in 10 different languages showed how to insert the power plug into the power outlet, & a list of warnings and prohibitions. The power outlet looked nothing like an Australian one, but that was OK, because the plug on the end of the cord looked nothing like the diagram but was the right one for Australia. So I went to plug and play.
Naturally it wasn't as simple as that - tho' the final step was. I had reached the spaghetti juncture -- the point at which I had to sort out all the cords & cables curling around behind my monitor, down the back of my desk and into something Laocoon & his sons would have to fight.
It took me over an hour. Every item of electric/electronic equipment in my home office has its own power supply, with the exception of the desk lamp (which has a power cord, of course). Galaxia, the back-up hard drive Foo, the large monitor, the cordless phone, the router, the multi-purpose printer. And now the new speakers!
First I had to crawl under my bed to get the second power board from the bedroom, (thus depriving myself of the use of the bedside lamp for the foreseeable future), then I had to unplug and disentangle eight power cords, plus assorted other cables, work out what belonged to what, & the best way to rearrange them - & convince them to behave!
It all looks wonderfully neat & organised now, with all power packs labelled, and everything tucked neatly into the two powerboards, which I hope will stay balanced on the little shelf I managed to create for them. And yes, the speakers were indeed 'plug and play' when I got to that step.
So now I have music while I work (or play solitaire).