[Coco] RE: [Color Computer] Re: Why USB would be nice.

[Glen VanDenBiggelaar]

Ok, I understand this, but take a look at your list below:
>
>You're a hard man to argue with, Glen, mostly because you reject out of
>hand every example anyone puts up. There have been lots of valid points.
>
>Let's try this again, off the top of my head:
>
>USB hard drives
We have both IDE and SCZI why whould this be of more benifiacal?
>USB flash drives
We have IDE flash drives
>USB floppy drives
Way too expensive- also what is the point?
>USB Bluetooth
OK- but Bluetooth probably needs more hardware, and it is a dying standard 
except in cell phones
>USB wifi
OK, but again more hardware needed to make work
>Modern Serial ports (with proper flow control, higher baud rates)
other than the odd BBS or using the CoCo as a fax machine, if we had 
ethernet, why would we need modems.
>Modern bidirectional parallel ports
Add on kits are (were avalible)

>Ethernet
Need more hardware
>Graphics tablets
Again we had the X pad and the koala pad, but how many people rally use it?

>Keyboard
Cloud 9 has these
>Mice
we barely use the mice in day to day use.
>Modern joystick controllers
ok,maby, but we could do with out it.
>
>All with ONE reasonably priced interface, at commodity prices for the
>add-ons (or free if you happen to already have the device, which many of
>us do have). Now if you are the boy with all the toys and you have all
>this already, no need for it. But I'm wondering where you got the coco
>Ethernet and coco graphics tablet interface (the venerable 256x192 X-pad
>maybe?).
>
>Not to mention that there is no way to hook a USB hard drive even to an
>IDE controller, or a usb floppy drive to a classic coco floppy
>controller. So if you have one of these already (you don't it seems) and
>you wish to use them, you're out of luck.
No i don't, but all USB hard drives ARE IDE drives!! Just open the case and 
unplug the drive. For my editing work, I have one USB hard drive case, that 
I swap hard drives with all the time.
>
>Now there is always a possibility that some of the network stuff might
>not be able to be made to work, but there's no reason to assume that
>just yet. KA9Q network stack, and Contiki proves the stack itself can
>run on 8-bit hardware. The only issue then is whether there is something
>about the interface that coco can't keep pace with. But TCP
>automatically scales back its pace if the receiver drops packets. So it
>might just all work out.
>
>So until shown otherwise I think it's reasonable to assume networking
>would be one killer app.
Yes I would have to agree, but Networking can be achived without USB! USB is 
just a means, like the Cartridge port or the bitbanger.We do not have to 
spend extra money on this.
>
>-- John.
>
>
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