Blinking lights hidden

From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman_at_theestopinalgroup.com>
Date: Wed Jun 21 08:09:28 2000

> Something's been puzzling me: when I look at my CDC SMD drive, the NCR
> applications processor, some smaller SMD drives, LEDs in my 11/44,
> etc., there's something I just don't understand. Why did companies
> begin hiding blinking lights, status displays, etc. behind covers, in
> places behind the front panel that aren't obvious at first glance,
> hidden in boards in a card cage, etc.?

So they wouldn't have to document their meaning for end-users.

"hello, Prime Technical Support, how may I help you?"

"My P400 front panel is blinking wildly, like I've never
seen before; what should I do?"

"We can sell you a VCP-based P650 that won't blink wildly
and generate extraneous service calls to us, for $125k and
your existing P400 system. How soon would you like delivery?"

-dq
Received on Wed Jun 21 2000 - 08:09:28 BST