11 Apr
2001
11 Apr
'01
9:24 p.m.
On Mon, 9 Apr
2001, Mike Ford wrote:
I first heard the term dongle in reference to a joystick-port security
device for a game on the C-64. This would have been c. 1982. Even then,
the legendary "Don Gall" was a persistent rumor. I think someone else
on the list has already expounded the marketing aspect of the name. BTW While talking to someone at the Santee
swapmeet, he told me the
origine
> of the word dongle is from the person who invented the short adapter
> cables, Don Gall. Fact or fiction? From
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/dongle.html
Note: in early 1992, advertising copy from Rainbow Technologies (a
manufacturer of dongles) included a claim that the word derived from "Don
Gall", allegedly the inventor of the device. The company's receptionist
will cheerfully tell you that the story is a myth invented for the ad copy.