Careful, now ... I don't think Amphenol makes the AMP line of connectors, though it's possible I failed to notice that over the 25 years or so that I've had both an Amphenol catalog and an AMP catalog lying about. However, those connectors now often called "SCSI-1" connectors but previously in common usage on 5-button phones, etc, had a specific name because that's how, like KLEENEX, they were introduced. After they got enough market share that they needed second sources, they became quite common, and were less commonly associated, over the next few decades, with their original manufacturer's name for the product line, which was "Blue Ribbon." Though every major manufacturer made them at their peak market share, they were still only called "Blue Ribbon" connectors in the Amphenol catalog, and were primarily referred to by number elsewhere. I've seen them in sizes from 10 contacts to 60 contacts, though I doubt I've seen 'em all. However, in the interest of remaining at least marginally correct, I refer to the 36-pin printer port connector as "Centronics-type" unless it's attached to something that has the Centronics brand-name emblazoned on the front. IBM didn't use the exact same printer port specification as Centronics, yet their definition seems to have taken over the Centronics name. OTOH, if you refer to that connector as a 36-contact Blue Ribbon connector, you'll only get a blank stare, even from most fairly knowledgable fellows who started working in the industry by the mid '80's or later, when Amphenol's Blue Ribbon line was no longer the most common source of that particular connector. BTW, if you look back in history, the <shape + shell-size + number of contacts + gender> designation, e.g DB25P, DC37S, DD50P, etc, also originated with Amphenol, if memory serves, yet folks still haven't really come to use that rather precise set of definitions. They'd rather just say DB15 and let the other party sort out whether it's a 'B' shell with 15 populated contacts, whether it's actually an 'A' shell (e.g. AUI cable) with 15 contacts, or whether it's an 'E' shell with the 15 contacts, as used in a VGA connector. It's different with other sorts of connectors. If you ask a person under 35 years of age what an RS-232 connector is, he/she'll probably point you at a DE-9. If you look in the standard, however, you'll see lots of things that refer to a precise signal set based on the DB-25 connector. If you investigate other comm's standards you may see similar things, often based on "facts" clearly not in evidence in the applicable standard. My original point simply was that WE, the users/Collectors/afficionados of classic hardware, should, if anyone should, learn and use the precisely correct terminology in our communications, if for no reason other than to avoid the inevitable discussion of "what did you mean by ...<insert poorly specified nomenclature here> ..." regardless of whether the majority of those for whom the communication is intended would probably understand what's meant. There are enough who won't that getting them to look up the definitions will benefit everyone. Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris" &lt;mythtech(a)Mac.com&gt; To: "Classic Computers" &lt;classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org&gt; Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 1:41 AM Subject: Re: Nomenclature (was: NEXT Color Printer find

On Tue, 1 Jan 2002, Chris wrote: It's a nice analogy, but only partially relevant for this particular issue. I don't know what they're teaching kids these days, but in the time period for which this list is relevant, mechanics did/do indeed refer to any adjustable wrench of that particular design as a "Crescent Wrench". They do NOT use the term "Crescent Wrench" to refer to any other style of adjustable wrench, and would consider THAT misuse as comparable to referring to a box-end wrench as a "socket". Calling the connector in question an "Amphenol connector" (regardless of who made that particular one) would, indeed be like using the common term "Crescent Wrench" when referring to an "adjustable wrench" (rather a vague, ambiguous name for it!) But calling it a "Centronics connector", particularly when dealing with sizes other than 36, would be like calling the same wrench a "Ford wrench". In the original post that was objected to, the writer referred to "Centronics Ports". THAT was wrong. If he were to have said "ports with 50 pin centronics connectors", then it would be a trivial misuse, and everyone would know what he meant (although some would DOUBT whether what he was seeing was correct -"are you sure they're 50s?"). BUT, a "Centronics PORT" means a parallel printer port as its primary and only meaning, and the ports in question were obviously not that. When it comes to wrenches and automotive analogies, I have a little experience - I started and ran the largest independent Honda car repair shop and wrote the book [literally] on Honda car repair. I'm upset at what half.com,ebay, want for a copy of it. One of the old classics of email "humor" mentions in passing a "Craftsman 10mm crescent wrench". Calling a wrench made by Craftsman a "Crescent" is what you are talking about. Since the dimensions of such wrenches were the LENGTH of the wrench, and Crescent didn't at that time label any of theirs in metric units, the "10mm" is just weird. In my garage, we had a box with a 150mm Crescent WANNABE, "rubber nails" (steel nails for nailing rubber weatherstripping), spotted paint (sold in a spray can by GM for repairing trunks), etc. for hazing the new parts runners. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com