4 Nov
2007
4 Nov
'07
3:01 p.m.
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 17:40:25 -0500
From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
Subject: Re: modern serial terminal
On Nov 4, 2007, at 4:59 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
> I
don't understand why someone would want to spend 10x more
> tima and money on a one-purpose device, when they can get
> everything they want and more off a cheap PC.
> Probably for the saem reason that some of us run classic computers in
> preference to PCs... For me, the reason is simple. Terminal emulators
are too damn
much trouble...emulation problems, key mapping, etc. I've used
pretty much all of them over the years, I think...the best one I've
used was SmarTerm 240, and even that is far from perfect. Sometimes
what one really needs is an APPLIANCE...not an emulation of said
appliance built upon an unstable and problematic platform.
----
Well, since this thread is (was) about building your own terminal box,
that's not really relevant; if the emulation isn't true that'd be your
responsibility. If you're going to program that box correctly you
could program the emulator just as well, probably much more
easily, and then you could share it with the rest of us who wouldn't
have your custom box but do have a "computer."
I've certainly written emulators, and it looks like I'm
about to write another, for an obscure terminal. What's the
difference between programming an EEPROM for your box
and a Flash card or USB stick for a box that says IBM or Dell
on it?
In case you hadn't noticed, computers have been APPLIANCEs
for a few years now; to keep thinking of them as 'computers' tends
to restrict your vision. To me, the laptop that connects my Cromemco
to the Internet, the one that logs phone calls and voice-announces the
Caller-Id and the one that monitors the furnace and sends RS-232
data to my desktop are just protocol converters; fun of building aside,
none of those applications justified my building dedicated hardware -
I just wanted something to do the job quickly and reliably without
getting sidetracked with yet another "project."
===
Further...A VT320 terminal pulls less than half an
ampere at 120V,
and is available for use within about fifteen seconds of
powerup...can anyone say either of those things for a PC running
terminal emulation software?
-----
Yes.
But to each his (or her) own...
m