[OT] USB v "legacy" interfaces

[Roger Merchberger]

Rumor has it that Fred Cisin may have mentioned these words:
>There is at least one documented instance of a fatality from the
>frustration of end-user RS232 interfacing.  (a user took a personal
>computer (CP/M?)  and a serial printer to a store to have them connect
>them; after several weeks without success, he shot and killed the store
>owner.)

I *damn* near did the same -- Bought an Epson LX-80 because the guy 
*guaranteed* me it'd work with my CoCo. $300. Then once I couldn't get it 
working, he sold me the RS-232 board for it (another $120, IIRC), 
*guaranteed* to work then as it's just as simple as serial to serial. 
However, he either lost (or lied to me about) the book with the serial 
pinouts I'd need to get it working, and RatShack didn't carry the right 
connectors for it anyway.

3 months later, and more than $400 out (I was a teenager - that was a *lot* 
of $$$ for me at the time) and the guy *refused* to refund me the money for 
the serial board after I purchased an external serial to parallel converter 
from an advert in HotCoCo.

I told him he could keep the money if I installed the board "where the sun 
don't shine... or worse." -- he gave me a refund.

>Even I can build simple stuff that connects to RS232 and Centronics.
>But I don't think that I will ever be able to build anything USB.

If I just *had* to stick my head in my ass and try to design something USB, 
I'd prolly go with something like this:

http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=604-00032

They have both parallel (8-bit) and UART (TTL - you'd need a level 
converter for RS232) versions of the chip.

But that's just me...

Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger

--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers
zmerch at 30below.com

What do you do when Life gives you lemons,
and you don't *like* lemonade?????????????