------------------Original: Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:12:06 -0700 From: Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> Subject: Re: Front panel switches (WAS: You just can't buy these anymore) M H Stein wrote: The DEC KI10 (PDP-10 processor ca. 1973) did that also, as did the Fabritek BI-TRAN SIX. It is NOT faster for data entry, because you effectively have to manually XOR each entry with the previous one. It might be OK if there were a clear button (as there is on the BI-TRAN SIX), or if the entry word cleared itself after deposit, though the latter would be bad when you actually want to enter consecutive identical non-zero words. Toggles (with suitable handles) are much easier for binary entry, because you can push them up or down without regard to their previous state. With practice you can easily enter octal data three bits at a time using three fingers. --------------Reply: Good point, but as expressed elsewhere I suppose it depends on personal preference, what you're actually doing, and what you learned first. I can see that for data entry toggles could be faster, but my experience was mostly examine/deposit etc.; never had the exhilarating experience of actually "typing in" a program that way, alas.