Re: What companies are still using old technology

[nospam@geniegate.com (Jamie)]

In <eu232q$vfv$2@Kil-nws-1.UCIS.Dal.Ca>,
ak621@chebucto.ns.ca (Richard Bonner) mentions:
>> Some applications do not require a 2GHz Ferrari processor.
>> Guess why the old Z80 8-bit is still around.
>
>***   Sure and it's why imbedded processors are simple 486s and similar.
>The marketing to constantly upgrade needs to be revealed for what it is: a
>money grab.

I almost never see people using dumb terminal equipment anymore, (a real
shame, terminal based systems really do offer a lot of advantages)

There is still the issue of power consumption, the "new" (well, "new" in terms
of PC's anyway) thing these days is to virtualize several computers on one
faster machine. At a certain point, you'll save money doing this due to power
consumption and replacement parts. Using a boatload of old 486's will end up
consuming more power and hence, more money. 

If it weren't for graphical web pages, colors and enhanced screen size of X11,
I would gladly use a dumb terminal instead. When it gets screwed up you can
just reboot the terminal w/out rebooting the whole computer.. easy to replace,
lower power consumption, rugged and generally easier to maintain. 

Probably the best thing about dumb terminals is that they are _Quiet_.

(Surprisingly, 'elinks' does an incredibly good job of rendering web pages, but
it's not quite suitable)

Jamie
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