| 1 | [[quoteright:350:[[Series/DoctorWho https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_who_time_heist_psi_usb_head.jpg]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:I guess they don't call it the ''Universal'' Serial Bus for nothing.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->'''Hermes Conrad:''' Professor, can you wire my head directly into the [=BattleGrid=]?\ |
| 5 | '''Prof. Farnsworth:''' I can wire ''anything'' directly into ''anything''! I'm ''The Professor''! |
| 6 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "[[Recap/FuturamaM1BendersBigScore Bender's Big Score]]" |
| 7 | |
| 8 | This does for computers and technology what TranslatorMicrobes do for living beings. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | In fiction, all computers, machines, hardware and software are 100 percent compatible and interoperable with each other, and then some. It's as if everything was built according to some universally agreed technical standard. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Plug any computerized control unit into any arbitrary machine, and the computer system will automatically have full communications and control over the device, regardless of how superficial the installation is or whether the device even has any electronic components to begin with -- if you plugged a computer into a wheelbarrow, your computer would display (''in real time'') how much potting soil and garden tools it currently holds, and you'd be able to drive it by remote control. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | A similar phenomenon occurs when two or more computers need to establish a network to communicate with each other. When the intrepid WagonTrainToTheStars makes their first contact with {{Starfish Alien}}s from halfway across the universe, nobody ever stops to figure out ''how'' those electromagnetic waves emenating from each other's ships are supposed to represent a communications channel (assuming it even ''is'' a communications channel at all) ... or how those aliens suddenly managed to hack into the ship's computers (bypassing whatever passwords and encryption) to steal a copy of all their technical schematics and tactical blueprints. Their starships must run on Plug 'N Play Technology! |
| 15 | |
| 16 | This is obviously not the case in RealLife: Without an agreement for everyone to follow fixed technical standards, computers would not be able to tell their precious 0's and 1's apart from each other in the datastream -- compatibility is the exception, not the default. You can't open or shut your closet door by plugging a computer into it, or pick up FM stations on an AM radio. US-made [=TVs=] aren't built for the higher voltage levels of European electrical outlets (or the PAL broadcast encoding); you can't play Platform/NintendoGameCube discs on your [=PS3=], you can't run Platform/MacOS executables on the Windows operating system, and the [[TheInternet World Wide Web]] simply would not exist (at least not as we know it) without everyone communicating according to the HTTP technical standard. It's true that at the most basic level, transmissions and instructions (for now anyway) are [[ComputersSpeakBinary binary]], but there can be no interoperation without a mutual standard for what the binary digits ''mean'', rather like how you can probably read Ojibwe, Vietnamese, or Wolof since they all use the Latin alphabet but will have no clue what it's saying. And all this is assuming both systems are based on binary electricity - compatibility between liquid state or quantum energy based computers is going to be another can of worms. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Plug 'n' Play Technology borders on ForgottenTrope territory these days with the widespread adoption of certain technical standards being something that we take for granted, even when it only enables certain kinds of communication between certain kinds of electronic devices. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | The matter can even be {{Hand Wave}}d entirely if the fictional devices are, in fact, based on LostTechnology left behind by the ancient {{Precursors}}. But don't expect any characters to [[ElephantInTheLivingRoom actually address the matter]] in fiction (at least beyond declaring that AWizardDidIt), when even the [[TranslatorMicrobes universal translator]] requires time to analyze and decipher the latest new alien language. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Please note that this trope has no relation to PlugNPlayFriends (which is actually named after this trope's RealLife [[Platform/PlugNPlayGame inspiration]]), and is [[ImaginedInnuendo not a double entendre]] for certain adult toys. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Related to PossessionImpliesMastery, with the computer being the master. Compare EverythingIsOnline; contrast NoBackwardsCompatibilityInTheFuture. A biological equivalent is NoBiochemicalBarriers. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | When occurring with ArtificialLimbs, this becomes PlugNPlayProsthetics. |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 33 | * A few CombiningMecha are made of things that weren't originally designed to work together. Examples include ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'' (all components concerned had been extensively modified via {{Green|Rocks}} [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum]]), ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and a few of the older Anime/BraveSeries mechs. Worst of all is probably Exkaizer, an alien AI who takes over a car, turns it into a TransformingMecha, and later gains the ability to combine with other vehicles. |
| 34 | ** In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', the ability to combine mecha is limited only by RuleOfCool, eventually reaching the point of matrioshka like robots that are ''lightyears'' in size. In the manga a particularly ridiculous looking combination (the giant Gurren on top and the small Laggan on the bottom) completely fails to work. |
| 35 | ** It should be noted that Plug-N-Play Hijacking is explicitly Lagann's special power. |
| 36 | * In ''Anime/YuGiOhBondsBeyondTime'', duel disks work with each other even if they're created in completely different eras. Not only that, but somehow, duel disks that are supernatural, made by aliens from other dimensions, and even organic disks are compatible with the regular ones. |
| 37 | * In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', EverythingIsOnline and can be easily accessed by [[WetwareCPU plugging leads from a computer into the brain.]] There never seems to be a problem with interfacing, although there is the risk of [[MindRape having your brain hacked]] and being forced to act against your will. |
| 38 | * {{Justified}} and {{Lampshaded}} in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', when Banager takes a Neo-Zeon double beam gatling and plugs it into his Federation-built Unicorn Gundam, it works perfectly without any compatibility errors (though it ''does'' take a few seconds to install drivers for it). The reason being that pretty much all Mobile Suits and associated weaponry is built by Anaheim Electronics, who sell to ''[[PlayingBothSides both]]'' sides of the conflict. |
| 39 | * ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'': near the end of the ''Fairy Dance'' story arc, Kirito receives a program from the digital ghost of Akihiko Kayaba called the Seed. Once released across the internet, it became used as a development kit for new [=VRMMOs=], with player data being easily transferable across games running on the same engine. In the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc, Kirito takes advantage of this to investigate the murders in ''Gun Gale Online'': while items cannot be transferred between games, Kirito could transfer his experience and stats from ''Alfheim Online'' to GGO. |
| 40 | ** Before this, he was able to play ALO in the first place because Nerve Gear can play games designed for the Amusphere. Not only that, he also accidentally stumbles into an OldSaveBonus because of that, with his ALO character having all his stas and skills from SAO. This is a hint that they're running on the same engine. |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 44 | * In ''[[ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy Ultimate Nightmare]]'', the Ultimates are trying to get into an abandoned Russian bunker. It has an 80s keypad stuck on a 60s computer system. According to Sam, the Russians did that stuff all the time. "Take two things that work and nail them toguether". |
| 45 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Lampshaded and Justified when [[TomboyishName George]] manages to hack into an Apokoliptian Supercomputer with her laptop, as she says the only reason it worked was that the extraterrestrial tech started modifying her hardware as soon as she plugged into the man-made-looking interface it was hiding behind. |
| 46 | [[/folder]] |
| 47 | |
| 48 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 49 | * In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}[=/=]Series/TheBigBangTheory'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheManyWorldsInterpretation'', Discworld supercomputer HEX has no difficulties in using and manipulating modern American technology for his own ends, usually with a snarky comment about how primitive or non-existent the artificial intelligence is. |
| 50 | * In ''Fanfic/{{Fractured|SovereignGFC}}'' and its sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', this trope is mostly played straight, with a few aversions. |
| 51 | ** The salarian Special Tasks Group cannot interface with Trans-Galactic Republic computers to spy on them and are actually caught due to trying and failing. |
| 52 | ** PlayedForLaughs between a mobile shipyard and Trans-Galactic Republic computers--''six'' adapters are required to translate from one machine to the other. |
| 53 | ** First averted, then played straight with Element Zero and hyperdrives. The first experiments were [[StuffBlowingUp disastrous]], but later attempts work very well (with other, [[NegativeSpaceWedgie universe-bending]] consequences). |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 57 | * ''WesternAnimation/CaptureTheFlag'': DoubleSubverted: Marty wants to connect his smartphone with NASA's rather old computers to restore communication with Mike and Amy on the moon, but is told this can't be done due to the huge differences in technology. Being a GadgeteerGenius, Marty promptly creates an adapter that allows him to do it anyway. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 61 | * In the 1959 BMovie ''Film/TheAtomicSubmarine'', the sub has to shoot down a FlyingSaucer before it returns with an invasion force, so a couple of scientists on board combine a homing torpedo with an ICBM to make a water-to-air nuclear interceptor missile. |
| 62 | * The quintessential example might be in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', where David Levinson (Creator/JeffGoldblum) uses his Platform/{{Mac}} laptop to plant a virus on the alien mothership and bring down all the shields. (A deleted scene explains this as human computers being partially back-engineered from alien technology and the scientists having enough knowledge of the captured ship to work out the rest.) |
| 63 | * In the Creator/StephenKing movie ''Film/MaximumOverdrive'', the unknown alien force that affects machines serves as the "control box". It's acceptable that a weird alien energy could fire up the electrical systems in machines and make them go haywire, possibly homicidal, so that an electric knife could actually turn itself on. But how does that help the same knife ''move itself across the table'' to attack someone? Or how does it allow a truck to adjust its (non-powered) rear-view mirror? Well, it does help when you know that King himself calls the film a "[[SoBadItsGood moron movie]]". |
| 64 | * The ''Film/MyFavoriteMartian'' movie shows Martin replacing his ship's "electron accelerator" with a car's alternator. Possibly more of an [[ExpospeakGag Expospeak Gag]]; Alterators/Generators do accelerate electrons. |
| 65 | * ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': The planet Pandora is populated by creatures which have a universal biological cabling system. The planetary HiveMind can even interface easily with a ''human'' brain. |
| 66 | * In ''Film/AngryVideoGameNerdTheMovie'', the [[WebVideo/AngryVideoGameNerd Nerd]] and his friend Cooper play an MMORPG together. Cooper is shown playing on a modern gaming PC and the game appears to have modern 3D graphics. [[DiscoDan The Nerd]] is then shown playing on a Commodore 64, which renders the same game with 2D 8-bit graphics and requires a handheld microphone for voice-chat as opposed to a headset. |
| 67 | * Early in ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'' there's a [[ChekhovsGun casual reference]] about a DSRV being modified with a universal docking system that can allow it to dock with a submarine of any country. Like the Soviet submarine that's just about to defect. |
| 68 | * Averted in ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}''. Mera has a data storage device that contains the location of the trident they need, but it's old and outdated, so none of their technology can read it. They have to journey to the middle of the desert, of all places, to find an Ancient Atlantian computer that can read the thing. Of course, the fact that said computer is still functioning after so long without proper maintenance is another problem... but hey, they tried. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 72 | * In ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' by Creator/DouglasAdams, any computing device placed in a particular place in Professor Chronotis's time machine will interface with the machine and become its control mechanism -- even the old-fashioned Professor's preferred device, an ''abacus''. It's explicitly noted that the technology that makes this possible is considerably more complicated than the technology behind the actual time travelling. |
| 73 | ** In fact, it's stated that the computer running the time machine is more powerful than every other computer in existence, ''including itself''. And more than 90% of the computer is used for this plug-and-play feature. |
| 74 | * Averted in ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', where [[HollywoodCyborg Fatale]], only a few years out of date, has a hard time finding a port she can still plug into. |
| 75 | * In [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]]'s ''Literature/SurfaceDetail'', a character defending her home orbital against a massive surprise attack ends up plugging her neural lace into into an ancient, virtually forgotten piece of heavy-duty, last-ditch effort machinery. The author notes casually how two systems written millennia apart perform a standard discovery sequence and quickly agree on an efficient data exchange protocol. (Yes, Literature/TheCulture is even a software utopia!) |
| 76 | * The ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book "American Knights" issues the player with a prototype battlesuit and part-time RobotBuddy named HOBART, who is capable of assimilating technology from the robots you fight on the surface - and justifies it by claiming that as the prototype, HOBART's design is inherited by all the things you cut to pieces and thus he's compatible with just about anything you bolt on to him. |
| 77 | * Averted in ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel'' (not surprising as Creator/RobertAHeinlein was an engineer) when Kip has to fill the bottles on Peewee's spacesuit because she's AlmostOutOfOxygen, but his oxygen bottles are the screw-in type while Peewee's have bayonet sockets. He's able to [[MacGyvering jury rig]] a connection using hose and [[DuctTapeForEverything surgical tape]]. |
| 78 | [[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 81 | * ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. Athena is a humanoid Cylon based on [[spoiler:Kobollian/Old Earth technology that was lost thousands of years before Colonial civilization rediscovered cybernetics]]. She resembles a human being to the point that the differences between her and an actual human are almost imperceptible ''even under a microscope'', and she even [[NoBiochemicalBarriers has a baby with one.]] And yet, she's somehow able to interface with and control Galactica's computers by attaching a network cable to one, stripping the other end, and jamming it into her forearm. |
| 82 | ** In their defense, they probably installed some sort of software package to allow her to interact with the Galactica's computers. |
| 83 | ** Also, the Cylons learned to hack the human networks long before Athena defected. She's just running it the other direction for once. |
| 84 | * Averted in the Japanese mini-series ''The Days''. After the tsunami knocks out all the power at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant everyone's overjoyed when a mobile high-voltage generator finally makes it there, so they can have power to cool the reactor. Unfortunately its voltage is 6000 while the cooling units use 500 volts. They can step-down the voltage by running it through a switchboard, but each switchboard has to be tested first to find one that's still working. |
| 85 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 86 | ** The TARDIS console has been patched with a wide variety of implements, such as odd items like a bicycle pump. As far back as the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild very first episode]] of the classic series, the Doctor replaced a "faulty filament" in the TARDIS with something he presumably obtained from 1960s Earth. |
| 87 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E3FullCircle Full Circle]]" the TARDIS happily interfaces with Alzarian technology, which is from a completely different ''universe''. |
| 88 | *** Perhaps [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in a FridgeLogic sort of way when you realize that the TARDIS is psychically linked to the Doctor and at least semi-sentient. Presumably any technology he figures out how to use, she can too. |
| 89 | *** According to the spin-offs, the TARDIS is built out of ''mathematics''. Presumably all it takes is for her to change a few constants in the equations here and there. |
| 90 | ** Partially averted in book ''The Pirate Loop'' — at one point, the Doctor plugs the TARDIS into the Starship Brilliant, which apparently gains him full control over the ship's systems. However, the cable he uses doesn't actually fit into the ship's ports, and ''space-glue'' is used to hold it into the best port. It still works brilliantly. |
| 91 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen "Rise of the Cybermen"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel "The Age of Steel"]]: The Cybus Cybermen — supposedly they're compatible or able to forge compatibility with nearly everything they come in contact with. The Doctor turns this against them in their first appearance: when Mickey gets the code that will deactivate their emotional inhibitors, all he has to do is text it to the Doctor, who plugs the phone into their central computer. |
| 92 | ** It is really remarkable how many devices have a port for the sonic screwdriver. (See [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]] for example.) |
| 93 | * In ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', [[TooCleverByHalf Topher]] develops a device that [[MindRape disables]] all actives in a fifty foot radius. [[Creator/SummerGlau Bennett]] [[MadScientist Halverson]] suggests that to disable a specific active at a distance they should just plug it into her computer. [[spoiler: That's not what she ends up doing [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge though]].]] |
| 94 | * This is a core trope of ''[[Series/{{Jake20}} Jake 2.0]]''. The title character is basically a modern-day supergeek -- a [[{{Nanomachines}} nanite-powered]] {{technopath}}. Over the course of the show, he learns how to interface with a variety of electronic devices. Most of these make some sort of sense, but in one case Jake remarks "Cars are all computer-controlled nowadays, right?" and then proceeded to stare intensely at a car, remotely start the engine, and drive it through a parking lot as a distraction. *facepalm* |
| 95 | ** Of course, there's also the time he nearly got a ticket because he couldn't interface with a parking meter. |
| 96 | * ''Series/KnightRider'' has done this on occasion. |
| 97 | ** It was especially abused in one episode of ''Series/TeamKnightRider'': after transplanting the computer core of one supervehicle into an ordinary sedan (an operation which, it is implied, is hurried and completed within a couple of hours at most), the computer has full control of the vehicle, including the (non-automatic) doors. |
| 98 | ** Something very similar happened in ''Knight Rider 2000'', where the original KITT AI gets first installed in Michael's '57 Chevy, and then in the body of the more advanced Knight 4000. Rather subverted, in that KITT's capabilities while in the Chevy are ''severely'' limited. |
| 99 | ** We can't talk about KITT without mentioning the numerous times he uses his electronic short-circuiting equipment to open mechanical locks. |
| 100 | * ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'': |
| 101 | ** ''Series/StargateSG1'' did this on occasion, but the spin-off series ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' took it to a whole other level, when Rodney would regularly stumble across some long-forgotten piece of technology left behind by [[{{Precursors}} the Ancients]], and have it running from his laptop (or sometimes his Windows CE-powered tablet) within five minutes. |
| 102 | ** Justified in that the SGC has been working closely with Ancient technology for quite a while, so has probably come up with software and hardware to interface human and Ancient devices. |
| 103 | *** In one episode, you see a device that they can connect to a USB port on a laptop, that has an Ancient crystal/optical connector on the other end, specifically designed to interface with Ancient tech. They've had access to Ancient technology for years (since SG-1 first discovered it), and they also have complete access to the entire Atlantis database (which is enough information so that thousands and thousands of multi-terabyte hard drives is only enough to back up less than 1% of it, with a very efficient compression codec). |
| 104 | ** It's also mentioned that the dialing computer in Stargate Command is only minimally functional: it took them ''forever'' to build a computer that controls the Stargate, and even then it ignores half the signals the gate sends it (this is the reason Earth's Stargate malfunctions so often). |
| 105 | ** In ''Series/StargateUniverse'', Icarus Base personnel were using a special dialing laptop in place of the planet's DHD. Eli Wallace managed to import and edit Kino video on his laptop. The crew also discovered "recharging" plates which provide power to all of their electric and electronic devices. |
| 106 | * The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E2TheEnterpriseIncident The Enterprise Incident]]": After stealing a CloakingDevice -- a big, bulky control unit -- from a Romulan ship, miracle worker Scotty manages to wire it up to Enterprise's engines within minutes, whereupon it works perfectly. |
| 107 | ** Justified ''very'' thinly by the implication that the cloaking device is a single, self-contained unit rather than lots of emitters and other stuff all over the hull; all Scotty had to do was get it wired into the internal electrical grid and fiddle with the field diameter settings. And also by much dialogue from Scotty about how difficult the procedure is, and how the alien device will likely overload systems, blow power grids, etc. |
| 108 | * The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E11Contagion Contagion]]" averts this. When the Iconian virus attempts to operate on Federation, Romulan or Android computer systems, the incompatibilities cause numerous glitches, as well as attempting to ''rewrite'' their operating system with its own. The ''Enterprise's'' sister-ship ''Yamato'' was destroyed when the virus infected engineering, shutting down the anti-matter containment and causing the ship to blow up. |
| 109 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' |
| 110 | ** Averted in an early episode "Prime Factors". The crew manages to acquire a long-distance teleporter capable of getting them home and discovers it's completely incompatible with their systems, forcing them to blow it up (ironically it's played straight at first, with the alien teleporter literally plugging straight into a Starfleet console despite having been acquired minutes before, so they wouldn't have had time to construct an interface). They managed to do the same thing with a quantum slipstream drive they encountered later on, again failing because it wasn't compatible and thus had ship-destroying faults, so they dismantled it. They also had a Borg transwarp coil at one point, which plays the trope straight as it worked flawlessly with both the ship and shuttles until it burnt out (though they ''did'' have an ex-Borg on hand to help). Averted by Voyager itself, as it's revealed in "The Cloud" that the power system for the holodeck is completely separate and incompatible with the rest of the ship (as a {{handwave}} to excuse why they have scenes set on the holodeck when they're supposedly short on energy for the rest of the ship). |
| 111 | ** It is also averted in the other way: many technological advances from the Voyager are fully integrated into the ship's main circuits, and can't work elsewhere. In the very first episode they clarified it to the Kazon: they have replicators that can make water out of thin air, and can give the resulting water, but they can't "give" the replicator itself. This becomes dramatically explicit when they found a Kazon ship where everybody had died in an explosion: they had sneakily stolen a replicator, tried to plug it into their own ship, and things had GoneHorriblyWrong. |
| 112 | ** The first act of "Prototype" involves B'Elanna Torres trying to configure Voyager's power systems to reactivate a damaged android they've discovered. Later this becomes a plot point -- the reason the android's power system isn't easily transferable is so [[AIIsACrapshoot they can't make more of themselves]]. |
| 113 | * Justified in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' where they spend many early episodes on the effects on O'Brien's psyche and stress levels caused by being tasked with getting Federation and Cardassian technologies working (and remain working) together. Several other characters note that nobody else could ''ever'' have gotten the station up and running like he did. |
| 114 | * In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', John is able to analyze a T-888 CPU by plugging it into the PCI slot of a computer motherboard. The CPU is not even the same width as the slot, but somehow it manages to work. |
| 115 | * ''Franchise/ToeiTokusatsu'' shows ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/KamenRider'' revolve around little collectible items that serve as power sources and several pieces of gear (like {{Transformation Trinket}}s and weapons) that can channel their power. While such items can be expected to hold to technological standards, the wide variety of power source items and their possible effects in different gadgets mean that incompatibilities should reasonably happen more often than they do. Most of the time, the only time an obvious incompatibility comes up is when an item is a MidSeasonUpgrade with a unique shape that physically cannot fit in gadgets that it wasn't designed for. |
| 116 | ** As a specific example, Series/KamenRiderGhost uses spiritual power from {{Magitek}} icons, while Series/KamenRiderExAid is technologically-based and draws power from video games. Despite the diametrically-opposed power sets, they were able to channel each other's powers without issue during a crossover (Ghost used an icon with Ex-Aid's spirit, while Ex-Aid got a Ghost-based video game). |
| 117 | ** In the movie ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiSuperHeroTaisen'', the [[Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger Goseigers]] share some of their CardsOfPower with Kamen Riders [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Ryuki]], [[Series/KamenRiderBlade Blade]], and [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Decade]], who also use cards. Except all four have entirely different sets of cards and card-reading systems, with no real explanation why the Riders' gear can scan the Gosei Cards beyond the fact that they fit in the card slots. Usually there's some sort of {{Handwave}} that shared power takes the form of the receiver's existing trinkets, but not this time. |
| 118 | ** Averted in ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', where Haruto and Kosuke use different sets of [[RingOfPower Rings of Power]], and accidentally swap them once. Kosuke's rings, which usually equip him with Mantles that grant animal-themed abilities, just act weird with Haruto's system; for instance the Dolphin ring lets Haruto swim through the ground. Meanwhile, Kosuke runs into the "physically doesn't fit" issue when trying to use Haruto's rings. |
| 119 | ** Another aversion occurs in ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne''. The power source items are keycards, with the heroes and villains using different types. Villains can hack and use the heroes' keycards just fine, but the end of the series and a later spinoff DVD reveals that trying to use a villain card in one of the heroes' {{Transformation Trinket}}s is a very bad idea, as the resulting form is unstable. In one example, the TransformationTrinket soon explodes, and in another, the mismatch [[spoiler:possibly kills]] the user. |
| 120 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' has a more mundane example, as both Xaviax and the Ventarans use USB, despite the fact that Ventara is an AlternateDimension and Xaviax comes from an alien planet ''in'' that dimension. |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 124 | * In the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' setting, the Glass Walker tribe of [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse werewolves]] devised a magic item called "Vulcan's Interface", which allowed any two electronic items to be linked together in this fashion. |
| 125 | * It is specifically stated in ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' that there are no standard software formats. But AI conversion tools are so common that it isn't an issue. |
| 126 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Orks can loot anything (steal a weapon or vehicle) and Orkify it (adding guns, spiky bits, guns, flame decals, guns, and maybe a few guns if there's any space left) and make it work, when the laws of physics say otherwise (or explode spectacularly, which to them is just as good). Human techpriests believe that where they entreat and pray to the machine spirits, the Orks just beat them into submission. |
| 127 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' zigzags this trope all over the place. Inner Sphere technology and Clan technology don't necessarily play nice with each other without some interfacing work due to the divergent technology development, but there's nothing stopping Inner Sphere techs from slapping a centuries-old laser or autocannon on a factory-fresh mech, no matter what company or nation-state built either one, without even mention of a software patch or jury-rigging a coolant connection. Mechs cobbled together with parts from radically different designs (sometimes even of different weight classes) are common enough to be known as [=FrankenMechs=]. Clan [=OmniMechs=] justify this, as the equipment is deliberately designed with standardized connectors so you can just slot the weapon into place on a mech, fighter, or vehicle. |
| 128 | [[/folder]] |
| 129 | |
| 130 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 131 | * "Backwards Compatibility" was a big deal for a long time in console development, where newer consoles were designed to play older games. The Platform/Playstation2, for example, was able to play [=PS1=] games just as well as [=PS2=], as well as use controllers and memory cards from the previous console. |
| 132 | ** This was used as a selling point by Sega with their Power Base Converter for the Platform/SegaGenesis, which is essentially a cartridge passthrough for Master System software to run -- the Genesis, otherwise known as the Mega Drive outside North America, is built upon and extended from the earlier Master System, and is thus backwards compatible with Master System games through the use of the Power Base Converter. Sega perhaps used this to throw potshots at Nintendo, who had to deal with [[https://www.wired.com/2016/08/super-nintendo-25/ negative press]] brought up by the lack of cross-compatibility between the NES and SNES. |
| 133 | * The ''Platform/Atari2600'' uses a controller plugin that a fair few other, later consoles utilized as well. While not all will work on an Atari, a list of the ones that do are found on the console's page. |
| 134 | * "Plug 'n' Play" describes a whole range of consoles, some liscenced, some not, with all (or at least, all the classics in the case of re-releases) games pre-installed. You plug the wire(s) into the TV (or cimputer monitor if it's HDMI/AV compatible), and you can play without needing to buy any games for it. Some need batteries, some have a power lead. |
| 135 | * This tends to apply to the PowerUp system in VideoGames. |
| 136 | * Most versions of ''Franchise/MegaMan'' have this, as the title character is usually able to use built-in weapons collected from defeated enemies. {{Handwave}}d by Mega Man possessing a "Variable Weapons System" which allows him to [[PowerCopying scan and copy the powers of his defeated foes]]. |
| 137 | ** The ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon takes it even further, where Mega Man is able to not only scan a bomb (not Bomb Man; an actual IED) to gain a complete schematic, he's able to transfer the information to Rush to take to Dr. Light (I guess the system can't work over wireless, only Personal Area Networking). |
| 138 | ** In the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series, this is further justified by all the other robots being duplicates of X's technology (poor ones at that). |
| 139 | ** ''[[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Legends]]'' averts this trope, as Roll has to modify the weapons you pick up in her workshop before you can equip them. |
| 140 | *** If you call building fully functioning combat weaponry from a [[InfinityPlusOneSword laser pointer]] modification. |
| 141 | ** Averted in one story in ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior2002'' when a virtual idol jokes about being affected by a virus that affects the main characters, but turns out to be unaffected since she is a different type of program. Averted later on with the same character, when she and Mega Man fall in love. Because they are different types of programs, they are unable to even touch each other. |
| 142 | ** Justifiable in [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the first game]] since Dr. Light actually built the original robot masters, so Mega Man could have been specifically designed to be able to operate their weaponry. Through most of the rest of the series, Dr. Wily could still be using hardware and software similar enough to ex-partner Dr. Light's stuff to still be compatible. ''VIdeoGame/MegaMan4'' is the first major exception, with the robot masters having been built by Dr. Cossack. |
| 143 | * Strogg computers in ''VideoGame/QuakeIV''. Human computers are surprisingly compatible with Strogg computers. |
| 144 | * The cyberjack implant in ''VideoGame/SystemShock''. |
| 145 | -->''[The cyberjack implant] is a wonderful piece of kit. You can take anything with a battery in it and plug it directly into your brain. Hoo! Even more magical, whatever you install, it always works and you never ever have an IRQ conflict. So my player is called PNP man (plug'n'play man).''\ |
| 146 | -- [[http://www.it-he.org/sshock.htm System Shock Hacker's Guide to Sin]] |
| 147 | * Justified in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', because [[spoiler: all advanced technology in the universe comes from Reaper artifacts, made to influence the development of intelligent species.]] |
| 148 | ** Then played straight in Andromeda, as the titular galaxy was not under the [[spoiler:Reaper influence]], and yet, the Andromeda Initiative encounters very little technological barriers when dealing with local technology. |
| 149 | * In the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, Samus' PoweredArmor is "modular" and can add new gadgets on the fly. It's somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by both Samus' Power Suit and most of the gadgets having at least the same creators (the Chozo), but she can also easily adapt [[TheFederation Federation]], Luminoth, Bryyonian and SpacePirate technology. There are two [[AvertedTrope aversions]] in the series, however: in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' the Suit can at first not analyze the Energy Transfer Module, and in ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'' Samus' original Suit is incompatible with the Plasma Beam, Space Jump and Gravity Suit upgrades, and she only gets them in the ExtendedGameplay after traversing a Chozo temple and acquiring a new Power Suit. {{Subverted}} with the Ice Beam in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'': while there is no indication that she can't equip it right away, the Metroid vaccine she took to save her life from the X Parasites makes it dangerous for her to use it without tech to overcome this weakness. |
| 150 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', where [[spoiler:Mr. House had the Platinum Chip specially made so that only certain equipment (which he built) could read it.]] |
| 151 | ** But also played straight, in that every single terminal and robot in the Mojave uses Robco code. The terminals even all use the same Robco Unified Operating System. Robco's coding is so ubiquitous that a quest in one of the add-ons can be resolved when a sufficiently tech-savvy [[PlayerCharacter Courier]] realizes that the cyborg he's talking to can be understood despite his broken voice module by paying attention to the code fluctuations in his radio chatter. |
| 152 | ** Played straight in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', it doesn't matter if you're hacking the a home computer or a nuclear launch facility, same operating system, interface, same code. |
| 153 | * In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' smart girl Lucca has the skills and knowledge necessary to repair and reprogram a robot from the distant future to be her friend and party member. Good thing the future still uses C. |
| 154 | ** Robo's weapons include an arm made from stone from 65 million BC, and one from 12,000 BC. Both flawlessly interface with him, and work better than the one he was built with. |
| 155 | * The Data Uplink in ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' is compatible with absolutely every computer you come across, including alien starships. There is a loose HandWave in that the game's futuristic tech is based on reverse-engineered alien devices, but it's still pretty flimsy. |
| 156 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'': sure, you can pick up and shoot the alien guns, but your HUD returns static and an error code in place of an ammo readout. Durandal also provides you with an "alien energy converter" as a stopgap measure, before making your PoweredArmor fully compatible with Pfhor recharge stations [[TimeSkip between games]]. |
| 157 | ** On the other hand, late in ''Infinity'', [[spoiler: Durandal (or what's left of him) merges with Thoth, an ancient Jjaro AI whose architecture shouldn't be anything like a human-coded AI's.]] |
| 158 | * Any obtained weapon, shield, FTL drive, thrusters, or misc. system can be fitten on a specific slot on ''any'' ship in ''VideoGame/StrangeAdventuresInInfiniteSpace''. Some limitations are added in the sequel/remake ''Weird Worlds'', where fighters can only be fitted with the most basic shields and short-range weapons. However, there's nothing preventing your [[PlanetTerra Terran]] ship (considering your people have never encountered aliens before) from finding and fitting a Hyperdrive (which works completely differently from a standard FTL drive) into the same slot in a matter of weeks. You must have some excellent engineers aboard the ship. |
| 159 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/XcomEnemyUnknown'', Dr. Vahlen and Chief Engineer Shen have to do a lot of studies and work in order for X-Com to make use of any of the alien technology captured. Justified in that in the case of the weapons and armor technology, they're not so much figuring out how it works as they are figuring out how to fit it for human hands so you can start using it as quickly as possible. Played vaguely straight with the Hyperwave device, but it's also demonstrated that the device almost blows out the base's power grid when first activated with the initial surge. |
| 160 | * Justified in ''VideoGame/XCom2'', as it's been twenty years since Earth fell and most of the advanced technology you're using is either based on or directly stolen from the aliens. |
| 161 | * Played straight, averted, subverted, and justified in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'': At first, it's a shock that Prophet has somehow jury-rigged an alien weapon to work, but then we find out the nanosuit is [[spoiler: reverse-engineered from Ceph technology]]. By the time ''Crysis 3'' rolls around, Prophet can make use of alien weapons, but the heads-up display glitches trying to recognize the weapon when he picks it up and he's the only non-Ceph who can get the weapons to work. |
| 162 | * Toyed with in ''Franchise/DotHack'': following a disastrous computer virus destroying most commercially available operating systems and damaging the infrastructure of the internet, the governments of the world have made ALTIMIT, the only OS unaffected by the virus, the standard OS of all computers made thereafter. With only one OS on the market, all computers became compatible with each other. |
| 163 | * Justified in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': Cortana is designed to interface with both Covenant and Forerunner technology. Why both? Because Covenant technology is all reverse-engineered from Forerunner relics. On top of that, Forerunner tech seems to have an in-built ability to configure itself to the user. |
| 164 | * In ''VideoGame/{{FTL}}'', players can pick up any ship component and it'll slide easily into their ship, no matter the source of the item or the ship itself (which can be from human or alien origin). This is from simple examples such as buying weapons from far-off shops in foreign systems or random events with civilians gifting parts to you, to extremes like lucking into Mantis Pheromones for an Engi ship (in very rare events). Most of the time this is justified as the universe ''was'' formerly part of TheFederation, but even isolationists like the Slugs and the Crystalmen have shops that happily sell gear to your ship, no matter the origin of the ship. |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'': Downplayed in the original game[[note]]if equipment wasn't already mostly-compatible before, the Confederation would have standardised things during the Great War to simplify logistics, and the alien ship can't be captured[[/note]], present in ''Nova'' (everyone involved is human and started from Colonial Council tech, but that was centuries ago, with the Polaris in particular going off in their own direction), used to the fullest by ''Override'' (it is entirely possible and indeed ''encouraged'' to mix and match ships and outfits from multiple species). |
| 166 | * ''VideoGame/{{Astroneer}}'': A majority of base modules can work both on a regular base and on a vehicle. Small ones can also work when plugged into your backpack. And somehow, giant alien teleporters use compatible sockets as well! |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 170 | * ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/644/ #644]] wants a doctor to install a USB port. The hardware won't work yet, but the patient is hoping the software will come later. |
| 171 | * [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/03/27/one-more-cant-hurt/ Justified]] in ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'': the [[InstantExpert iKnow]] wasn't ''meant'' to be used as a MindControlDevice, but [[TeenGenius Fortiscue]] [[TemptingFate tempted fate]] by using [[BigBad Zenith]]'s code in them. |
| 172 | * Justified in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', as the alien technology of Trollian is the same chat client as Pesterchum, just with time-travel capabilities for added frustrations in just trying to have a sane and linear conversation. |
| 173 | * ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' [[http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/11/07 parodies]] the use of this trope in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''. |
| 174 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' |
| 175 | ** In Book 14: When investigating a gigantic, presumably vacated, space station, Captain Tagon ask Coxswain Ventura to access a parked fleet of ships left behind. Reasonably enough, she points out that the systems are completely unfamiliar (and alien in design, besides). When he points out that the group that they're working with somehow accessed the central computer enough to give them limited door access, she then grips that there are now ''two'' incomprehensible systems she's expected to break into. It does eventually get done thanks to using Ennesby who stole data from the guys that researched the derelict for five hundred years. Plug'n'play principle nonetheless shines when he straight-up ports himself [[spoiler:and an echo of Tagii]] over ''into'' the alien hardware and runs on it with no trouble. |
| 176 | ** As an emissary of All-Star, a DysonSphere supercomputer full of several entire civilizations worth of virtual people, Putzho can instantly hack any contemporary technology. He slips into the same station with ease despite its defences being much more active at the time. |
| 177 | ** Semi-averted with the Paanuri technology. Petey, as a super-AI, is able to hack into it by hardware access through both mechanical and biological disassembly. However, he comments that even for him, it was ''very'' difficult. Once he does figure out how it works and shares the information, Ennesby can work with it too. Schlock, on the other hand has no hacking skills, but manages anyway on a very lucky shot. |
| 178 | * Averted in ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'', [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20110207.html when]] Tin-Head is locked up Sticks explains that he can't interface with him to figure out what's wrong because the "Steve Jobs" model has persisted into android hardware. |
| 179 | |
| 180 | [[/folder]] |
| 181 | |
| 182 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 183 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': |
| 184 | ** On at least one occasion, Jérémie has had to borrow one of Odd's portable game systems for a quick memory boost to the Supercomputer. Despite, you know, the fact that the Supercomputer was built anywhere between the mid-1980s and 1994, and even modern computers not having any first-party components that can connect to a video game system or accessory. The portable game was connected to a laptop used as interface with the Supercomputer. That still leaves plenty of compatibility questions, though. |
| 185 | ** A later aversion of the trope occurs when Jérémie has Yumi connect his laptop to a radio antenna by touching loose wires into the laptop's port -- there simply isn't enough time to solder a proper connection. |
| 186 | * [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Dib of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': while attempting to hack Zim's computer, he says, "I only hope the Irkens just happen to use the same operating system as me". Of course they do. |
| 187 | * One particular episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has Cartman buying a Trapper Keeper that can interface to anything, electronic or organic, prompting a Cyborg like the one in ''Film/TheTerminator'' to return and try to stop it from taking over the world. Rosie O'Donnell becomes involved, and, eventually, Cartman/Trapper Keeper end up an ''Manga/{{Akira}}''-[[ShoutOut like]] [[BodyHorror mountain of flesh]]. |
| 188 | * ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': The ghost Skulker was able to instantly integrate Tucker's PDA into his ghostly mechanical battle suit basically just by sticking into a compartment on the arm. This made his suit's functions more reliable, but also allowed Tucker to hack into it--even when he travels back from decades in the future. |
| 189 | -->'''Tucker:''' Wow, I can still hack his system with my PDA. I don't know if that's exciting... or sad. |
| 190 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie ''Bender's Big Score'', the Professor links Hermes' bottled head up to an entire fleet of spaceships. |
| 191 | * Much of the technology in ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' works this way. While the eponymous robot ''may'' be explained as coming from the future and having some of this compatibility built in, WordOfGod states that the race that built this robot didn't even ''exist'' at the time of the story. Also, with ''some'' effort, Coop is able to wire a several billion year old intergalactic prison (with [[AliensSpeakingEnglish English prisoner names]] into an outdated ''game console''. |
| 192 | ** One episode spoofed CombiningMecha by having Coop desperately cramming some Power Rangers Zord expies onto Megas' limbs. Even though there is explicitly no interface his attempt to pull of their finisher move works. |
| 193 | * During an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', ComicBook/IronMan doesn't know what to do when he confronts a supervillain from a thousand years in the future who has technology that makes his look like sticks and rocks. The situation is eventually solved when he is able to plug his armor into said technology (using apparently compatible jacks on both his armor and the future tech) and turn it off using command overrides that still work because the future tech was based on his. This is similar to saying that a lock maker from the 10th century should be able to open a modern bank vault with his skeleton key because the vault is an evolution of his medieval locks. |
| 194 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E10NoSmallParts No Small Parts]]", the Pakleds are revealed to have developed the ability to improve and enlarge their ships by adding the wreckage of alien vessels to them; the one that encounters the ''Cerritos'' has pieces of over thirty cultures' ships assembled into a functional and effective whole. This turns out to also result in their primary weakness -- interfacing so many different systems together means that Pakled computers need to be extremely open, which in turn makes them extremely vulnerable to viruses. |
| 195 | * ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' subverts this. It turns out that a classic video game console from Earth cannot just be plugged into a spaceship made of 10,000 year old alien tech. In a later episode, Pidge managed to daisy chain a whole bunch of connectors to make it work. |
| 196 | * Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''. The Boiling Isles does have its own version of the internet, and social media, but Luz's smartphone does not appear to be compatible with any of it, as one episode shows her needing to borrow Eda's [[SupernaturalPhone scroll]] in order to send someone a text. |
| 197 | [[/folder]] |
| 198 | |
| 199 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 200 | * One of the most simple and nigh-universal technological standards that has endured since the 1970s and 80s is the basic Stereo Audio signal, which can be transmitted via simple sound cables that can terminate in either a 3.5mm small pin, a 6.35mm large pin, or a pair of RCA audio pins. Yes, your ancient vintage Walkman from the 80s can be plugged into a latter-day Soundblaster audio card's line-IN, and its old earphones can be shared with ''both'' your first-generation iPod and your newest Android flagship smartphone. |
| 201 | ** With more and more smartphones dropping the 3.5 jack, this might not be a case for long. [[AuthorsSavingThrow Fortunately, some Android manufacturers are still building their phones with a jack]] even if as of early 2023 most are mid-range devices at best. |
| 202 | ** The 3.5mm jack does come in a snag with TRRS headsets (stereo headsets with a microphone). For some reason, two standards were created. One for computers, which use the tip as the microphone input, the other for mobile devices, which uses the second ring (closest to the tip) as the microphone input. While the audio output side is unaffected, you can't use the microphone in an incompatible plug. |
| 203 | * Region 1 (North America) DVD players exist that have the option to output to the European PAL format as well as the North American NTSC format... even though it only has a regular North American power plug. |
| 204 | ** "Region 0" DVD players also exist, which can play any region of DVD without any problems. They're particularly common in East Asia, where at least three of these regions exist in close proximity, and people often buy discs from neighboring countries. |
| 205 | ** Some DVD players can be "unlocked" into region 0 by entering a special code with the remote. Doing so usually voids the warranty on the player, however. |
| 206 | * Saab market their [[CoolPlane Gripen fighter aircraft]] by saying that the aircraft can interface with both UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} and UsefulNotes/WarsawPact weaponry, unlike other fighters of that generation. It's paid some dividends -- the Czech Republic and Hungary, both former Warsaw Pact members who are now in NATO, have bought the aircraft. |
| 207 | * Intel Macs can run both OS X and Windows (not out-of-the-box, some work is required). The reverse (running a Mac OS on non-Mac hardware) is even trickier, requiring third-party software and drivers, copious troubleshooting, and a lot of luck, but it can be done. |
| 208 | ** Technically, most if not all Intel machines (Linux, Windows, Mac etc) can run most modern [=OSes=] as they are built around the x86 architecture. The only reason you can't easily run Mac on a non-Mac x86_64 computer is because Mac ''[[NoBackwardsCompatibilityInTheFuture doesn't want to]]'': it checks for a hardware module only present on Mac computers that does nothing but verify that the computer is a Mac. |
| 209 | * Ironically [[TruthInTelevision played straight]] in '70s and '80s, when the Soviet Union adopted PDP-11 compatibility as an industry-wide IT standard. It was done exactly for the reason stated above: the interoperability makes life so much ''easier'', and adoption of an already established standard gives you the access to all the software and hardware already developed for it. |
| 210 | * USB, ''Universal Serial Bus'', for the most part has solved the problem of having various connectors to connect peripherals and needing to install a driver for said peripheral. While it had a rocky start in that drivers were often needed to use the device, today, all but the most niche or specialist devices are plug and play thanks to standardized device profiles. You may need to install software to get the most out of the device (such as keyboards or mice with configurable keys), but for basic features they can work as-is. |
| 211 | ** Special mention goes to the Mass Storage Device and Human Input Device standards, used by flash drives, SD card readers, mice, and keyboards - the majority of software platforms that support at least USB 2.0 specs will support most or all of these. |
| 212 | ** As a happy consequence of NotTheIntendedUse, most small electronic devices these days will use USB if they need to plug into something for power or needing to hook up to a computer, in part due to a European standards regulation that strongly encouraged the use of standardized Micro-B USB cable heads for charging smartphones. |
| 213 | ** Unfortunately, the USB-C part of the USB standard zig-zags this trope. As it's a physical connector standard, what it actually supports, be it what data it carries and how much power it can provide, largely depends on the manufacturer of the device the port is in. For example, a laptop may be output video on one of its USB-C ports, but not the other. In another case, some devices may require one of the higher power delivery profiles of USB-C, but only ports marked as supporting such will provide it. |
| 214 | * An interesting side-effect of the Compact Flash memory card's design is that it is actually compatible with the legacy IDE hard drive data connector on older desktops. This has resulted in some hobbyists coming up with [[http://lowendmac.com/2015/the-lowdown-on-using-compactflash-to-replace-an-ide-hard-drive/ ways of using CF cards as replacement hard drives]] for machines that are from the early age of desktops. It is possible to find such a CF-IDE adaptor on the third-party hobbyist market. |
| 215 | * Another hardware standard that has gained mass market support is the Bluetooth standard, which is most commonly used for headsets and keyboards/mice, and they will work on a majority of desktop and mobile platforms, from Windows and Apple to Android and 'nix. The same small Bluetooth portable keyboard can be moved from an iPad to your laptop and then to an Android device. |
| 216 | * On a related note to the USB standard, the [=FAT32=] and EXFAT file system standards are very nearly the ''lingua franca'' of file storage systems in a massive majority of modern computers and smartphone/tablet derivatives, as the extremely widespread USB flash drives and [=SD/SDHC=] cards ship preformatted for [=FAT32=] and are compatible with Windows (specifically from 95 [=OSR2=] onwards), Apple (both modern OSX and iOS systems), 'nix, and Android platforms. EXFAT, the file system that higher-capacity SDXC cards are preformatted in, will probably suceed [=FAT32=] in this arena of multiplatform support as support improves in future OS releases. In addition, all these SD cards will work perfectly fine with your digital cameras/camcorders, Smart TV sets, IP cameras, and other such embedded systems - photos captured by your programmed IP camera can be moved via SD card to an Android phone, then uploaded to Google Drive and accessed on your desktop, before being copied to another SD card and transferred to your Platform/Nintendo3DS or Platform/WiiU. |
| 217 | * If it has a CPU, you can run [=NetBSD=] on it, period. Linux is a close second. |
| 218 | ** If a piece of software has been built to be POSIX-compliant, it'll run on just about every unix-based system out there, or be 90% of the way to working. A simpler piece of software could be made once and then immediately work on $20 embedded boards, Android phones, Macs, and million-dollar supercomputers. |
| 219 | ** In a similar vein, a lot of old Windows apps that used mostly Microsoft supplied libraries and API, work on modern Windows. For instance, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH1BKPSGcxQ a YouTuber demonstrated]] installed Windows 1.0 and upgraded all the way up to Windows 10 32-bit (as of 2017) and found that a lot of apps from Windows 2.0 work in Windows 10. 64-bit versions will axe compatibility with 16-bit apps, but there's no reason to believe the 32-bit apps won't work. |
| 220 | ** To an even greater extent, C: if it can compute, there's a C compiler for it. C is the basis for POSIX and Unix and is the ''lingua franca'' of the open-source world (and by some estimates accounts for as much as a third of all software ever written). If there ''isn't'' a C compiler for your system, don't expect it to see much (any) use. |
| 221 | * [[http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page QEMU]] is a CPU virtualizer. If you don't mind some things being really slow, it can theoretically be made to run pretty much any operating system (and by extension, its software) on pretty much any host computer. |
| 222 | ** Not QEMU, but same idea: [[http://dmitry.gr/index.php?r=05.Projects&proj=07.%20Linux%20on%208bit here]] is an example of stock Ubuntu running on an 8-bit microcontroller. It takes six hours to boot, but it works. The processor is similar to the kind of thing you'd see in a game console's ''controller''. |
| 223 | * The standardized ATX form factor for computer parts insures that anything compliant with the standards will at least fit. Rest easy that you can in fact fit a new top of the line motherboard with a screaming fast CPU, a motherload of RAM and a pair of hyper-fast, [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition limited edition]] 3D cards into [[WhatAPieceOfJunk the case of the PC you initially built in 1999]] (and you upgraded the PSU accordingly. A modern PSU will still fit into said case as well). |
| 224 | ** There are a lot of standards from the [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer IBM PC]] that are essentially plug and play. At least in theory. But these standards got incompatible upgrades over time. Only three today are both forwards (supposedly) and backwards compatible: USB, SATA, and PCI-Express. |
| 225 | * The TropeNamer may be the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_and_play#ISA_and_PCI_self-configuration ISA bus PnP standard]] from the early 1990s. It allowed peripheral cards inserted into one of a PC's ISA slots to automatically determine which IRQ and DMA channels it should use. Previous generations of ISA cards required the person installing them to manually flip dipswitches on the cards to set the IRQ and DMA channel assignment; woe be to the user if you accidentally set two cards to use the same channel. It was widely known as "plug and pray", as in "plug it in, pray it works". |
| 226 | * [[MediaNotes/ProgrammingLanguage Interpreted and scripting languages]] source files, assuming that the interpreter or whatnot and libraries are available to run them, are essentially plug and play programs. You can reasonably expect the same exact source file will run exactly as you expect it from one platform to another. |
| 227 | * [[http://littlebits.cc/ littleBits]] are basically the electronics equivalent of LEGO. Connect two pieces and turn it on, and it will work. There are some limitations, but new pieces are easily engineered and just about anything can be built with the right bits. |
| 228 | * Most amateur radio transmitters have a jack for connecting a telegraph key for transmitting Morse code. Because telegraph keys are just switches that open and close a circuit, you can connect a key made in the 19th century to a modern radio with a simple passive adapter. |
| 229 | * PCI Express aims to be this, at least on the hardware level. That is, if it's a PCI Express device, it'll work in any PCI Express receptacle regardless of how many lanes it needs, what revision it was designed for, and what physical interface it plugs into. So for example, a PCI Express 4.0, 4-lane, M.2 [=NVMe=] SSD can plug into a PCI Express 3.0, 1-lane slot with a passive converter. Even graphics cards, which normally require 16 lanes, will still run in a single lane receptacle, [[{{Nerf}} albeit with reduced performance]]. |
| 230 | * While the world's electricity varies in spec (being either 100-115V or 220-230V at 50 or 60Hz), most power supplies from reputable electronics manufacturers have made them universal, meaning you only need a passive adapter at worst to use said device. This can either be a doodad at where you plug into the mains socket, or getting a cable with an IEC connector of the correct shape (the other end obviously using the local plug shape). Though if you want to doubly make sure your device is universal, make sure it has the numbers listed before somewhere on the power supply itself. |
| 231 | [[/folder]] |
| 232 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / PlugNPlayTechnology
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
