Tony Duell wrote:
The DEC pricing
model for supplies like floppy media and
tapes was one of the irritating aspects of using DEC hardware.
Hobby users usually found a work around. But I guess when
THe pricing for spare parts was out of this world!. I don't mean custom
parts like complete PCBs or custom ICs, I mean standard electronic parts
that you could get from just about any electornics compnents supplier --
trnasistors, TTL ICs, frontpanel bulbs, etc. I remember being quoted a
price for somethign (I forget what) and actually asking 'Is that for one,
or a pack of 100?'
Needless to say I never used genuine DEC spares...
I have not bothered to retell my joke about DEC for a while now
since I recognize how much their software is missed, especially
the software!!!!!!!!!!!!
"What was DEC's marketing policy?" - ADD NOTHING!!
"What was DEC's hardware policy?" - ADD NOTHING!!
Example: Buy a Micropolis 1325 for $ 500, ADD NOTHING
to the price (add a zero to the right side) and presto, the price is:
$ 5000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Example: Buy a Micropolis 1325 and ADD NOTHING (well
probably OEM it from Micropolis and change the model number
to 1335 and add a zero ohm resistor to act as a jumper for the
controller to detect as an RD53 - R7 was the designation) and
presto a DEC RD53 is born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At some point I purchased a number of Micropolis 1325 drives,
added two posts to the circuit interface board (since I am not very
good with a soldering iron and one post at a time in the hole where
the R7 is placed was easier), then wire wrapped to form a jumper.
PRESTO, the RQDX2 recognized the drive as an RD53!
DEC was still selling the RD53 drives for at least a few thousand.
Even the RD51 was just an ST412 with just DS3 instead of DS1.
And don't get me to complain about the standard 4 button control
panel on the BA23 which supported only ONE RD53 and an RX50
as opposed to the 6 button control panel which supported TWO
RD53 drives and the RX50 sitting on the bench with long cables
to the inside of the BA23 box.
Why am I still so happy to use RT-11 after all these years if DEC
was such a bad vendor?
Jerome Fine
