[Ti] Cardbus not obsolete!

[Chris Olson]

On Dec 14, 2005, at 9:50 AM, Ross Winn wrote:

> Please do not confuse me. Dead has nothing to do with useful. The  
> VAST majority of users never utilize PCMCIA, PC Cards, or whatever  
> you want to call them. They are a waste for MOST consumers.

I guess I started this whole Cardbus thing, but all I was saying was  
that if they decide to remove Firewire from portables, it would be  
wise (IMHO) to add a Cardbus slot to the iBook and not deprecate it  
on the PowerBook.  Cardbus is still the industry standard expansion  
module for PC's, not USB or Firewire.  USB is Intel's baby, Firewire  
is Apple's baby, but Cardbus is universal and has enough bandwidth to  
add both Firewire and USB2 support to a laptop that doesn't currently  
have it.

Most people with Macs don't use it.  But in industry, engineering and  
other technical occupations the PC Card slot is used extensively for  
interfacing with external hardware.  CNC machining equipment, engine  
and chassis dyno's, data loggers, instrumentation, and the list goes  
on and on with the stuff that gets plugged into the PC Card slot.

Apple burns many bridges like RS-232 serial, which they declared dead  
long ago.  However, RS-232 is used on virtually every industrial  
robotic controller on the planet, as well as GIS, navigation systems,  
automotive and aerospace controllers, etc..  Ironically, to hook a  
PowerBook to an industrial controller running a PowerPC processor,  
you have to use a RS-232 dongle, made by Keyspan, plugged into a USB  
port.  Meanwhile most PC's still support RS-232.
-- 
Chris

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