[rescue] Favorite Terminals

[Kurt Mosiejczuk]

On Wed, 26 Jun 2002, Sheldon T. Hall wrote:

> > And the information on it that I've found says "all of its functions are
> > implemented in hardware -- and I mean, in *hardware*, as in the finest
> > Schottky TTL money could buy a decade ago"

> Maybe _3_ decades ago ... the ADM3 was considered "quaint" when I started at
> Peachtree Software in 1981.

I think it was just the TTL that was "finest"... this was the one
marketed as THE "dumb terminal" =)

> They are tough, though.  So was a lot of stuff from that era, back before
> the hardware guys figured out just how little material was really
> neccessary.  If you ever get the chance, take apart one of the original
> Compaq "luggables."  The case was plastic, but the stuff inside was
> aerospace-quality aluminium, beautifully folded and punched, complete with
> peened-in threaded inserts for all the screws.  And shock mounts for the
> hard drive.  I've got a Portable II ('286, 640k, 10MB) from about 1983 which
> still works fine.

Yeah, it's a shame that quality has gone down to such a degree.  Heck, compare
an Ultra 1 with a sparc 2.  Just lifting them tells you how much more steel is
in the Sparc 2...

--Kurt