8 Oct
2011
8 Oct
'11
4:43 p.m.
>> This was years in advance of the PC world
noticing SCSI, of
> course...
> Sarcasm aside, this brings up a good question...
> I've got a 1984 Ampex Megastore board for the PC that uses SCSI
> (I'll have to check the ROM exactly, to see if they call it SASI or
> SCSI, but it uses the command set). It connected with an external
> box with both tape and disk drives.
On Sat, 8 Oct 2011, Toby Thain wrote:
There's a difference between being able to find
some obscure adapter,
and making SCSI integral in motherboards, which Apple did with the Mac
Plus ~ 1987 and successive products.
There's a difference between wider use and "being first" or
"before...notice". Overtaking volume of use is NOT "being first".
YES, there were SASI implementations before the Macintosh was publically
released. Almost certainly SCSI, also. But my memories of the timeline
are fading.
The Mac Plus _did_ have an Apple-designed interface:
The ADB port.
However, as usual, this was thoroughly documented on the hardware and
software side, and many third party peripherals were built. Ditto
Appletalk serial - fully documented and specified, many third party
peripherals.
where are they now?
Ditto, Apple rolled it out across the whole product
line - New World
Macs - obsoleting the floppy and serial ports at around the same time.
Even I can get a modem or a printer working on a parallel or serial port.
Even I can get hardware and software to work on parallel or serial ports.
(OK, I don't HAVE any parallel port modems. Wish I did.)_
I can't get a USB modem to work, nor printer drivers to STAY working on
some machines. "Troubleshooting" now seems to consist of: 1) check
whether it is plugged in. 2) Throw entire new machines at it.
Progress.
But, YES, USB is nowhere near as USELESS of a SERIAL BOTCH as it used to
be.
Again. Putting it on all of the product line is NOT "being first to use
it". THAT kind of logic makes DELL a major, maybe the greatest,
innovator!
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com