Apple's history is littered with the remains of weird proprietary technologies that eventually died horrible deaths: NuBus, ADB, the DIN-8 round serial port, etc. Back when the first PCI Power Macs were introduced, it looked as if Apple had finally joined a twelve-step program and was on its way to standards-based health; PCI slots, standard VGA video ports, and later, USB and FireWire-- there was every sign that Apple had fully recovered. But proponents of the widespread benefits of using industry standard technology heaved a collective sigh of grief when Apple fell off the Standards Wagon last month and introduced the Apple Display Connector, an admittedly innovative technology that unfortunately doesn't play well with others.

The ADC, available only on Apple's new displays and on the ATI graphics cards shipping in Apple's latest Power Macs and Cubes, is a kickin' little connector that carries analog and digital video signals, USB traffic, and power all at once. The upshot is that one skinny cable connecting your Cinema Display to your Cube is all you need-- no messy "power brick," no tangle of cords, no karmic penalty for polluting the world's aura with increased complexity. Unfortunately, since this marvel of a connector is only available on Apple's latest gear, you can't use one of Apple's sleek new displays unless you own a sleek new Mac to match. No adapter is currently available, and depending on what day of the week it is and the relative humidity in Fargo, Apple representatives either say they're working on one, or that they're leaving it up to a third party to fill that need. (Incidentally, the lockout doesn't apply in the other direction; if you have a sleek new Mac and a non-ADC monitor, you can still connect them via the Mac's VGA port.)

But wait, what's this? A third-party graphics manufacturer publicly voicing support for Apple's proprietary connector? Believe it, buddy; according to The Register, the folks over at 3dfx (the maker of them new-fangled Voodoo 5 cards all the game kiddies are drooling over) have announced that they "look forward to supporting this connection standard in our future products." Wow. Can anyone imagine 3dfx having supported, say, that wacky Apple AV monitor connector that shipped on the first Power Macs? Either Apple's really hit it right this time, or 3dfx is desperate enough financially to start seriously sucking up to new niches. Either way, we're not going to complain.

Don't get too excited, though; 3dfx's promises won't help you much right now. In fact, it's not even clear if the company plans to retrofit its current product offerings with ADC connectors, or if we'll have to wait for a Voodoo 6 before we have an alternative graphics card offering that'll work with Apple's spiffy new displays. But for those who lament that only two companies are ADC supporters, hey, look on the bright side-- these days, how many Mac users are going to buy a graphics card that isn't made by ATI or 3dfx? At least, until NVIDIA climbs on board...