You have to hand it to Intel, their Light Peak fiber optic connection technology has caught the attention of many people due to its insanely high speed capabilities and the possibility of making those future-chic optical cable runs a dream come true.

CNET has a writeup on the technology and why it may become USB’s replacement in the future:

But do we really need to go all the way to optical now? High-speed electrical communications is hard–wires can cause electromagnetic interference, for example, and USB 3 cables can only be 3 meters long compared to 5 meters for USB 2. But technology for transferring data over copper wires, like technology for shrinking computer chips, has defied predictions that it will run out of gas.

Here’s hoping they figure out a way to pipe power along side those fragile pieces of fiber.