Debate continues to rage over whether or not Apple is thinking too differently by not including a set of standard Mac ports in this fall's iMac. We're sure you've heard all the arguments: on the one side, you've got the Innovators, who state that Apple is keeping costs down by eliminating outdated ports that consumers don't want or need, while moving to new standards like Universal Serial Bus; on the other are the Pragmatists, who point out the simple market truth that currently there are very few peripherals available for the iMac's new USB ports, which are its only expansion possibility. Yes, there will definitely be some USB peripherals available for the iMac when it ships-- count on Apple to make sure of that-- but even though the iMac is targeted at first-time buyers, it's a heck of an attractive purchase for existing Mac users who'd like to upgrade to a new home machine. It's not such an attractive purchase, though, if it means that those existing Mac users have to buy new printers, digital cameras, Zip drives, and scanners since the ones they've got won't connect to the iMac.

But just as the argument over the iMac's missing floppy drive became largely moot after Imation announced their floppy-compatible USB SuperDisk drive (not to mention rumors about an Apple-branded floppy option for under $100), there's an interesting rumor that surfaced over at O'Grady's PowerPage that a "major Macintosh vendor" is working on a product that could potentially dispel many of the complaints about the iMac's incompatibility with older peripherals. That product is allegedly a "hub" that will plug into one of the iMac's USB ports and will give the system two Mac-standard serial ports, an ADB port, and a SCSI interface. If such a thing could be done, you can stop worrying about not being able to connect your existing modems, digital cameras, joysticks, mice, Zip drives, scanners, printers, etc. to the iMac you'd like to buy to replace your aging LCIII.

It's a neat idea, and even though the SCSI port would have to be pretty slow (USB is quite a bit slower than SCSI), it's a good way to provide backward compatibility. The identity of the "major Mac vendor" working on it is unknown, but if the rumor is true, our personal guess would have to be Newer Technologies. Those guys have always come out with some innovative ways to expand on the capabilities of Macs. Perhaps you recall the MiniDocks they had that clipped onto the back of a Powerbook Duo to provide Ethernet or SCSI services? This "hub" sounds right up their alley. We sincerely hope that the whole thing isn't just a rumor.