On 03/12/2013 10:44 PM, David Schmidt wrote:
On 3/12/2013 10:33 PM, nyder wrote:Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices if you want to keep your old computers interfacing with your new computers.Yep. They're called "bridge computers." The retro lifestyle gets kind of hard without them. Sometimes wild devices come along (i.e. the FC5025) that span a few generations. But one day... USB will be gone too. And what comes after that.
For a while I was aggressively disposing of older systems, but after the Great Recycling Frenzy took hold it became obvious that they were disappearing quickly. I'll second the sentiment about (as I term them) "shop" computers. I have a variety of older Dell systems, from 486 ISA bus through Pentium III PCI that are essential for interoperation with and data transfer to/from my classic machines.
Recently acquired a mint IBM XT to fill in the 8086 ISA gap. There are several bits of older hardware, chiefly my 9-track tape drive, that will not operate with anything newer or faster. Yes, it all takes up a bit of room but since it keeps me off the street corners at night my wife is graciously accepting.
I have little doubt that USB will be gone at some point, as will whatever comes after it. Who cares. I probably won't be around to worry about it.
Steve