Front Panel Theory

From: Allison J Parent <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
Date: Wed Nov 25 22:55:37 1998

< Not trying to be a snob here, but true "Front Panel Theory" can only be
< practiced on a computer where the 'innards' are exposed. Most
< microprocessors are too integrated to support a "real" front panel. This
< one of the reason they died out fairly quickly in the micro world but li
< for quite a while in the mini-world.

Wrong, wrong wrong. They died because of a multitude of things one being
ROM monitor is cheaper to implement than 16-22 switches and more flexible.
That and after you've baned the loader in 5 times and basic still isn't
up and your finder hurt... Plus it made the machine intimidating and
complex looking compared to say a KIM-1

The 8080 altair had one and it was quite useful but there were more
switches and TTL on the board than the CPU, RAM and IO combined!

Allison
Received on Wed Nov 25 1998 - 22:55:37 GMT