A bus you shouldn't miss. USB explained USB has fast become the preferred hardware interface when it comes to portable MP3 devices. There is no longer that hassle of shutting down and restarting your PC when introducing a new device or peripheral. Why is this good for portable MP3 device users? Because the idea of the portable device is convenience and efficiency. USB speeds up the process of uploading and downloading audio data to and from PC to peripheral by its automation of the whole process.
USB replaces all the different kinds of serial and parallel port connectors with one standardized plug and port combination.
With USB-compliant PCs and peripherals, you just plug them in and turn them on! USB makes the whole process automatic. It's like adding instant new capabilities to your PC. You never need to open your PC, and you don't need to worry about add-in cards, DIP switch settings or IRQs.
Thanks to another USB feature known as "hot-swapping" you don't even need to shut down and restart your PC to attach or remove a peripheral. The PC automatically detects the peripheral and configures the necessary software.
USB also lets you connect many peripherals at one time. Many USB PCs come with two USB ports. And special USB peripherals -- called USB hubs -- have additional ports that let you "daisychain" multiple devices together.
USB connections allow data to flow both ways between the PC and peripheral.
