Week 2: To Wire, or not to wire.

A common problem with many of the older console systems was the wiring.  While it could be somewhat of hassle figuring out that the blue red and white video/audio cables hooked up into the blue/red/white ports on the tv, this isn't what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the wires connected to your controller.  And specifically, I'm talking about the connection of the controller to the Playstation itself.  These controllers were designed to connect and not be easily removed, presumably, because it was thought that a controller that can be easily (or accidentally) removed from the system, was not a desired affordance.

While for all intents and purposes, this was a good idea,  there was one factor that the playstation designers didn't keep in mind.  A simple affordance that designers did not have in mind is where and how the Playstation would be set up, and the players would play.  In most cases, the system would be set up as close to the TV as possible, and the player would be as far away from the TV as possible.  While cord length could be limiting in and of itself, most players would stretch the length to its max, eventually ending with the controller wire pulling on the console.  And depending on where the console was set up, this could end in disaster.  During intense gameplay, or if some careless person walked into the room, any tug on the controller could pull the console and end up moving it, or, if set up with your tv on top of a desk, pulling itself and other electronics crashing to the floor.  Which is never a good thing.

Xbox, however, designed a constraint that eventually has gone to the wayside with the onset of wireless controllers.  None the less, this simple design innovation allowed for players to stretch their cords to the limits without the worry of having their xbox come crashing to the floor.  On the picture to your right, you can see that in the middle of the xbox cable their is a bulky looking section the middle of the cord.  This piece actually separates from  the xbox and the controller, so that if excessive force was pulled on the controller, the controller would unplug itself here, and would prevent the xbox from crashing to the floor.  A simple constraint like this saved many xbox's from being destroyed by gravity.