On Thu, 20 Oct 2005, Jules Richardson wrote:
... discussion about this on another list got me
curious - what *was*
the point of that cable twist in a (IBM clone) PC floppy cable, when
every other system on the planet was using straight-through cables?
2) when the twist was introduced, there were presumably no clone
machines around (it was there from day 1 IIRC) - and wouldn't the
addition of a second floppy drive to an IBM machine have been a field
service call anyway? So it's not like it was the general public changing
jumpers, but a trained engineer...
IBM sold through Computerland, Businessland, and a few others.
They had to simplify it enough that Computerland "technicians"
could add a drive without damaging anything.
SOME Computerland technicians were competent.
Some others failed entry exams at Fry's.
figure out. If a customer tried to add their own drive
rather than
buying through IBM, surely IBM couldn't care less if they struggled to
figure the drive jumpers on their 'non-standard' unit out?
When somebody adds a B: drive, they could blame IBM when the A: drive
would no longer work.
It's got me curious as it seems like a hack that
doesn't completely
solve any kind of problem whilst introducing a difference between IBM
and the rest of the industry.
. . . and you were looking for a REASON?