Eliminating the cables between the PCs on a network is one thing; it's not as satisfying, though, as clearing a desk of all unnecessary bits of wire.
Even the sole trader can end up with buckets of wire on a system: USB-ing his or her way from the printer to the PC, from the PC to the monitor, the PC to the keyboard, the PC to the mouse, then another for an external storage device, the subwoofer and then the subwoofer to the speakers.
Overall it's a mess and anything that can help sort it out is a blessing. On page 8 in this issue there is some discussion of Bluetooth, the short-distance network between appliances. On an even smaller scale are the cordless appliances which, although not a network in any sense, make life simpler and tidier. And most are compatible with anything with a USB port.
Early models (Logitech in fact introduced the first cordless mouse in 1992, effectively kickstarting the market) used infra-red signals, but these required clear lines of sight between the CPU and the peripheral in question, which was automatically useless if, say, the CPU was going to sit on the floor. Current models use radio waves, so no matter how cluttered your desk gets you should be able to use them.
The good news is that buying cordless equipment is a lot cheaper than might be imagined. A basic Logitech cordless wheel mouse will set you back £17 plus VAT from dabs.com and will eliminate a lot of cable clutter on any desk; just plug the sensor into the mouse port on the computer, press two buttons to establish a partnership and it'll start working immediately.
There's no need to install the tricksy mouse software that comes with this and the Microsoft equivalent; most of it will take you into Logitech's preferred websites or add extra functions you didn't know you needed and so probably don't need at all.
More fun can be had by opting for a cordless keyboard as well. These come in a variety of shapes, sizes and prices, the most basic of which, from Microsoft, Logitech and other sources, will offer you a wire-free environment for less than £40.
So why go for a wireless environment in the first place? There can be a number of reasons. A recent sales conference on networking buildings together wirelessly was brought to a standstill by a teacher of special needs wanting to know how to make her classroom cable-free: "We can't have cables because the students chew them," she said.
More prosaically, another reason is that the equipment can be more pleasant to use. Logitech user Dave Wilkins, who owns Dave Wilkins Motorcycles in Penge, swears by cordless keyboards through simple expediency: "When not in use, I can free up desk space by putting it on a shelf above, thus giving me more room in my tiny office, which is an eight-foot cube," he says. "And keeping it safe from spilt coffee etc, which killed my last three keyboards.' All said keyboards suffered their spillages when a keyboard was moved and its cable knocked the drink over.
People wanting to look beyond the basics will inevitably need to be ready to pay a little more, partly because they're looking for more functions and partly because they're edging into the "gadget/toy" category rather than the "need to have" business purchase. Microsoft's Wireless Desktop, for example, includes the extra keys familiar to people who have its internet keyboard and costs £59.99 inc VAT from PC World.
Competing products from Memorex, Logitech and others offer similar features. Top of the range, at least in terms of price, is the Logitech Cordless Desktop Optical. This is pricey partly because of the optical mouse (which has no ball so no grit gets trapped, and it doesn't need a mat, saving even more space), partly because of the extra functions (volume control, one-key access to your email, favourite shopping sites, automatic sleep mode and the rest), but mostly because it's a rather snazzy black and grey and looks pretty good in most office environments.
At £81.07 including VAT from dabs.com, it's an expensive little gloat considering you already get a working keyboard with every computer you buy, but it makes loafing on the sofa while working at home rather simpler. And it's a very nice keyboard, although people who like the old-fashioned "clicky" keyboards tend not to enjoy working on it.
Not that you should ever throw away your old keyboard. Battery-operated keyboards, mice and other accessories do run out of juice (this being why the cordless varieties don't have lights to indicate caps lock, for example: the power drain would be unnecessary) and sod's law says that if you didn't have some sort of backup your system would die in the middle of typing an important arti ...
Still wired?
Pleasant though the thought of a completely cable-free office might be, it isn't going to happen for a while yet.
The following equipment almost invariably take cords:
· Monitors: Although there are a handful of cable-free systems on the market, these are mostly for the professional presenter; ordinary PC monitors are always cabled.
· Speakers: There are speakers for standard audio systems that don't require wires but there have been few, if any, attempts to sell them into the computer market. Certainly searches on both jungle.com and dabs.com for "cordless speaker" and "wireless speaker" drew a blank. Given the amount of wiring on a four-speaker, one-subwoofer system, that's quite a surprise, although substituting a pair of cordless headphones is a good compromise.
· Power cables: What do you want - miracles?
