Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: DeskNC Windows version

I have 4 of the SIIG boards too. But when there are no more parallel port
printers being made, then the parallel ports will start to become extinct.
SIIG won't sell enough of them to continue making them and they will go
away. There just isn't enough parallel port useage in industrial control to
make the parallel port stay around. The parallal port's life revolves around
printers.

For example. Try to find an MFM hard drive controller today. How about an
ESDI controller? Or one more near and dear to my heart, an EISA bus
computer? How about a dot matrix printer?

All of these were killed by newer and better technology. I lived though the
introduction and demise of EISA in a 9 year time frame. When I started
working at Compaq, EISA didn't exist. When I left 9 years later, it didn't
really exist any longer. I have a $5000 Truevision video compression board
that I can't use today because no modern processor system boards support
EISA. I paid for that board out of my own pocket. That smarts!

I can't predict when it'll happen, but I do know the OS companies want to
get away from legacy support as soon as possible.

And besides, if you really think about it, we need a better interface to a
CNC machine than the kluged up parallel port anyway. It's too limited for
what we really want to do.

later,
Larry E.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Eldredge" <harmonyt@...>
To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2001 8:08 AM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: DeskNC Windows version


> Larry,
>
> This phasing out of the parallel and serial boards is a big problem to me.
> I am using a pci based dual parallel port designed by SIIG. It works well
> for me under Dos, but you must use drivers. It automatically configures
> your system to take the lower two of the three printer ports available.
It
> seems that when the mother boards drop these options, someone will produce
> add on products that will keep things going. Industrial uses for the
> consumer pc abound, and they seem to lag behind in operating systems.
>
> You guys know more about this stuff than me, so I would like to hear you
> brainstorm this problem just a little more, if you please.
>
> Tom Eldredge