20 Mar
2007
20 Mar
'07
3:42 p.m.
Same reason we put lights on holiday decorations, or on road signs, or
anything else we want to attract attention to.
Using light as a way of attracting attention goes back a long long time.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jos Dreesen
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 3:19 PM
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Why blinkenlights ?
I am currenly contemplating what kind of IO to put on my
coming i8008 system : what is it that makes blinkenlights
(i.e. leds and switches ) seem so attractive ?
It must be about the worst possible way to interact with a computer...
So why is it then that almost all early micros had them ?
a 7segment display with keyboard ( as in a H8) is clearly
more usable, and would have cost nothing more. Or were early
eproms (for the monitor
program) that expensive ?
Jos