28 Jun
2006
28 Jun
'06
11:53 p.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 6/29/2006 at 5:25 AM Jules Richardson wrote:
Possibly - but as you say, the main integration was floppy/IDE/serial/parallel
- in other words, equivalent to the good old multi-I/O board of old. There
were some exceptions, but the norm was for video, sound and network to still
require boards (and, IIRC, motherboards of the time typically only had three
or four PCI slots anyway)
It's interesting though how MCA and EISA died
out, but VLB (briefly) and
PCI did so well. The latter two both required new boards, but there didn't
seem to be a lot of complaints amongst users.
I think it wasn't that PCI "did so well", but rather that the need for
plug
in cards decreased dramatically. At some point, I predict that many desktop systems
will
take the form of something that looks like the Mac Mini--everything that
you need in a small box with no expandability except for USB and maybe
Firewire. Should cut costs significantly.
Much as I dislike it, I suspect that you're right. Although there is a vast
amount of legacy hardware out there, which hasn't quite been the case for
Apple systems. I can't see the expandable PC board going away any time soon -
but it might be relegated to the realms of server-class hardware only.
Never underestimate the desire of PC gamers to keep upgrading their video
boards though, I suppose.
cheers
Jules