Apple should have offered a TB USB 3.0 adapter. Fortunately Kanex stepped up.
I also have the USB ethernet cable
Are you considering obtaining one? I have one, I think it's a 32GB cellular model. I think the battery needs to be replaced as it loops in a power cycle. I can get it to bring up the USB mode but I have not been able to get it to do anything if I connect it to my Mac.
They had the opportunity to update the Thunderbolt Display with USB 3.0 but didn’t.
@Hughmac: You don’t have USB 3.0 though.
Yup no USB 3.0, and the original 10/100 Apple USB ethernet cable, but what I do have...Is it the 10/100 one? The Belkin delivers Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire 800 within one device, along with USB 3.0. Which is something that Apple should have provided.
Edit: @Amethyst1 pre-empted me.
Thanks. It's less about raw speed benchmarks and more about whether it behaves well, so to speak. I never felt happy about the Kanex because it cooked in use so I only ever used it for a specific task at a time then unplugged it as soon as it was done, just because I never wanted to fry a port in my iMac. I also had Apple's TB to FW800 adapter and that is still as good as gold, so it was all down to how Kanex or whoever implemented the adapter chip and whatever voltage stepping was needed.I recently acquired a Kanex dongle and it's great for my 2011 MBP which already has FireWire 800 and Gigabit Ethernet but the Belkin will provide those ports along with USB 3.0 (albeit with performance caveats) to my 2011 MBA. If you like, I could post the results of USB 3.0 data transfer comparisons between the two but I suspect that the Kanex will emerge victorious.
Both Apple and Kanex use a “Port Ridge” Thunderbolt controller so that can’t be the source of the heat. Would be cool to point a thermal camera at the thing.
“Introducing… the iPod touch Pro Max.” No, seriously: Is there an app for iOS that displays a giant VU meter or spectrum analyser whilst playing music? That would be fun on an iPad!
A Thunderbolt controller can have up to four PCIe devices hanging off of it, so Belkin could additionally have included an eSATA port or something even more esoteric (gimme a serial port, will you?).
A TB1/2/3 controller can only have two ports (one upstream, one downstream). TB4 supports hub functionality though, so TB4 docks can finally have three ports.
It can mean anything from totally dead to a depleted PRAM battery with the Pismo. I used to take punts on items like this at $10 and almost always got a bargain. Not the same story at $120. If it is coming with a power adapter then it has definitely been "tested". I think ads like this are less likely to yield bargains these days. If the seller is clued up enough to ask that much for an "untested" Pismo then he probably knows enough to google for the main problems with these models and still couldn't fix it.
Oh, fully agree, I'd rather cut off my right thumb, toe or whatever (-nail), than purchasing stuff like that!
Likewise.
To summarise my previous rantings on this subject, it goes against the core ideals of computing (which Apple had embodied till recently) that your machine should be able to expand in tandem to your requirements over the years. Apple have literally engineered forced and planned obsolescence into their newer products and they're helping to fuel e-waste and the destructive throwaway culture.
End of sermon.
I think we can blame smartphones for this one. They really changed the market and the fact that people were willing to upgrade on a yearly cycle started to kill the demand for longevity to the extent that Apple and others saw that it didn't matter any more.
