Computer accessories

Computer accessories were listed under small electronics and, on the earlier menu, as their own department. Keyboards, mice, hubs, and cables were the goods. Complete computers were not the point of the row.

The trap is the plug. USB-A, USB-B, serial, PS/2, and VGA were all normal at the same time on this shelf. An adapter can change the shape and still fail if it is a passive plug on a signal that needs an active converter. VGA to HDMI is that kind of mismatch: the shapes adapt only with a box that creates a digital picture. A USB hub of that era is often USB 2.0 and unpowered. A portable drive plugged into it clicks and drops off because the hub cannot feed the disk. A powered hub is a different accessory, with its own brick.