23 Feb
1998
23 Feb
'98
1:28 a.m.
On Sun, 22 Feb 1998, Bill Richman wrote:
I'd say it's not so much a matter of there
being "no need for them"
(front panels), so much as the fact that machines are so fast any more
that I'm not sure how much use they'd be, especially with
multi-tasking operating systems. Before the address and data LEDs
stabilized with any useful information, it would be somewhere else.
I'd like to have a front panel on my PC, just for old times sake,
though...
They'd be extremely handy as a diagnostic tool, especially when there's a
problem with a video card or memory, and instead of having to count a
bunch of stupid beeps to determine what the error code is, you can just
read it off the front panel.
Those front panels had value that was overlooked when the modern machines
were ushered in.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
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