7 Aug
2011
7 Aug
'11
12:14 p.m.
On 7 Aug 2011 at 18:11, Tony Duell wrote:
In any case, not all terminals are
microprocessor-controlled.
I've owned a couple of those, and also a couple of 8008-based ones
with 1702 EPROMs, shift-register memory...
Sure there are complicted terminals, but be honest.
Which would you
rather fix : A VT100 or a modern Wintel PC?
Oh, by far, the Wintel PC. You either replace the motherboard or the
power supply. There just isn't that much more to work on--and
nothing that warrants taking the time to bother working at the chip
level--if your time means anything to you.
(ducking the flames)
But it really is true.
Even with the issue of terminals, a modern terminal would require
what, less than 5 ICs, including RS-232 level translation and run
from a wall wart? That terminal using the Parallax
Propeller project
springs to mind as a "modern" terminal--and it's at
least a decade
behind the "bleeding edge".
Of course, a true "modern" terminal wouldn't use RS-232, either.
--Chuck