Of course they're non-standard. It's Apple, after all, and they've had to find some way to keep that trait alive after killing off ADB, etc.

You can go to any wifi location (coffee shop, etc) and use your Apple laptop fine there with an AirPort. And it works the other way around too--a PC can use an AirPort base station without a problem.

Those gimmicks remind me of the "turbo" button that used to be on PCs around 1995-1996...anyone else remember that?