17 Sep
2007
17 Sep
'07
3:54 p.m.
On 17 Sep 2007 at 15:29, M H Stein wrote:
What I meant was that of all the things that *are*
dumb like the PC printer
connector and Tony's AC plugs "criminally" used for other purposes, the
PS/2 mouse & keyboard ambiguity is as harmless as L & R audio connectors.
Mind you, IBM didn't "invent" that printer connector; lots of S-100 boxes
used
DB-25s for RS-232 *and* parallel printers.
When I think about it, the MITS 8800 had connector punchouts for DB25
*only* in the back panel. DB25 seemed to be the lingua franca back
then for hobbyist interfaces. If one had an 8" floppy drive, one ran
the ribbon cable right through the crack between the back panel and
the case cover directly to the controller card(s). No DD50s.
Nevertheless, since Compaq could use the same port for
a mouse or a keyboard,
I can't see either why when there are two separate ports they couldn''t be
interchangeable.
Some modern PCs even have interchangeable audio connectors; you can plug in
line in and out either way and it sorts out which is which.
Indeed. I've owned a few of the "either spot is the right one"
systems.
Of course, now everyone's supposed to be using USB for all of that
stuff, right? ;)
Cheers,
Chuck