19 Jul
2010
19 Jul
'10
5:02 p.m.
On 7/19/10, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
In the case of the Rainbow, the hardware was capable of formatting
media, but ISTR some other DEC controllers didn't have bits left over
in a CSR or didn't have enough command packet varieties to include a
media format request or some other design limitation that was left out
for various reasons, not primarily to force users to buy pre-formatted
media, but since DEC had been selling pre-formatted media for years
(RX01, RX02, RL01, RL02, TU58...) (vs older devices that *could* be
user-formatted - RK05, DECtape, etc) it was believed at the time that
users wouldn't complain enough to make a more complicated (and
expensive) solution necessary.
I think for the most part, they were right - there might have been
some grumbling about the cost of media, but commercial customers were
used to paying for places to store their bits. Home users were
another market entirely, and I don't think that it went over as
smoothly when trying to sell expensive disks to that crowd.
I remember complaints from the later RX50 era that I don't remember
market for
blank diskettes and cartridges. Reminds me of the DEC Rainbow
(wasn't that system deliberately crippled to prevent it from being able to
format blank media?).
Only (AFIAK) by DEC not supplying a formatter program with early versions
of the OS. The hardware was quite capable of formatting blank disks. from the RX01 era vis-a-vis buying pre-formatted media.
The
difference lies, I think, more with the audience than the technology
on this one.
-ethan