30 Dec
2009
30 Dec
'09
6:48 p.m.
(To be fair, the PCW's printer was connected to
the PCW with *two*
cables -- data and power -- but I suspect that was just Amstrad's
designers being their usual penny-pinching selves...)
I think it was because there was no commonly-avaiallbe connector that
coule (a) carry the current needed by the printer mechanicals and (b) had
enough pins for all the data lines -- the printer really was a dumb
device, just motors, printhead and drivers, all the timing came from the
computer). OK, penny-pinching if you line (in that there were expensive
connectors that could do the job), but IMHO a sensible choice.
FWIOW, the daisywheel printer used on the PCW9512+ seems to have had a
single cable ending in a 14 pin DIN plug (think : Atari ST floppy drive).
But that has a serial interface (not RS232, of course), with a gate array
(I think) in the printer. Or at least that's what the service manual shows.
-tony