21 Jun
2000
21 Jun
'00
9:09 a.m.
Something's been puzzling me: when I look at my
CDC SMD drive, the NCR
applications processor, some smaller SMD drives, LEDs in my 11/44,
etc., there's something I just don't understand. Why did companies
begin hiding blinking lights, status displays, etc. behind covers, in
places behind the front panel that aren't obvious at first glance,
hidden in boards in a card cage, etc.?
So they wouldn't have to document their meaning for end-users.
"hello, Prime Technical Support, how may I help you?"
"My P400 front panel is blinking wildly, like I've never
seen before; what should I do?"
"We can sell you a VCP-based P650 that won't blink wildly
and generate extraneous service calls to us, for $125k and
your existing P400 system. How soon would you like delivery?"
-dq