But since you would just connect it to a USB interface (which laptop has a MIDI sound card anymore?) why the extra step?
My MIDI controller has both, A USB port for computer connection, and the usual in/out/thru ports. It can even double as a midi interface, and does a much better job too than the "real" interface I have (as in, it doesn't crash the whole computer anymore when it's suddenly unplugged).
Anyway MIDI is outdated. OSC all the way! :P (In addition to MIDI of course, and USB)