Terminals...

For "almost all companies" to get the gender wrong, somehow we managed. Mostly, it was just making or ordering cable Y instead of cable X. DG also used non standard DEs I think. Moving serial to the DE was in the cards, simply because the DB was underutilized and took up too much real estate. IBM certainly played the standard violation game as well, but somehow the DE9 serial issue is no big deal. Order or make cable Z, and the problem is solved. A new connector that requires new tooling. Every halfway decently sized DP shop probably had a nice selection of tools and supplies for D shell and RJ connectors. Male or female - no problem to make whatever. Or call up the cable supplier or Inmac, and let do the work. But not with MMJ, everyone has to get that special die... OK, yes, I suppose it is a bit early, so I will take that back (but, come on, lighten up a bit. Did I touch a nerve?). I was told that DEC's reason is that too many people were confusing things that use RJ connectors. However, it was pretty clear at the time that RJs were going to be a hit. Serial went there, and even token ring. Yes, it has ended. Monochome CRTs have not been made for quite a few years now. "New" production terminals are using refurbished tubes. Also, I bet the number of new dumb terminals being ordered these days is tiny, and it would not surprise me if what is being sold today as new is just old stock from the warehouses. I is a whole lot cheaper to store a few thousand terminals in a warehouse than it is to keep a very slow production line open, with the bonus that unsold stock can be written off and scrapped. -- Will