connector conspiracy
[probably came into prominence with the appearance of the KL-10 (one model of the PDP-10), none of wh OSe connectors matched anything else]. The tendency of manufacturers (or, by extension, programmers or purveyors of anything) to come up with new products that don' t fit together with the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new stuff or expensive interface devices. The KL-10 Massbus connector was actually *patented* by DEC, which reputedly refused to licence the design and thus effectively locked third parties out of competition for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market. This policy is a source of never-ending frustration for the diehards who maintain older PDP-10 or VAX systems. Their CPUs work fine, but they are stuck with dying, obsolescent disk and tape drives with low capacity and high power requirements. A cl OSely related phenomenon, with a slightly different intent, is the habit manufacturers have of inventing new screw heads so that only Designated Persons, p OSsessing the magic screwdrivers, can remove covers and make repairs or install options. Older Apple MacintOShes took this one step further, requiring not only a hex wrench but a specialised case-cracking tool to open the box. In these latter days of open-systems computing this term has fallen somewhat into disuse, to be replaced by the observation that "Standards are great! There are so *many* of them to cho OSe from!" Compare backward combatability. [ Jargon File] In addition suitable contents: [ = ] [ ad ] [ ag ] [ ai ] [ al ] [ am ] [ an ] [ app ] [ ar ] [ arc ] [ arg ] [ as ] [ at ] [ av ] [ b ] [ ba ] [ backward combatability ] [ be ] [ bi ] [ bit ] [ bo ] [ box ] [ bs ] [ bus ] [ by ] [ C ] [ ca ] [ capacity ] [ case ] [ ch ] [ ci ] [ ck ] [ cl ] [ co ] [ com ] [ computing ] [ con ] [ connect ] [ CP ] [ CPU ] [ cr ] [ cracking ] [ cy ] [ D ] [ de ] [ DEC ] [ design ] [ device ] [ die ] [ diff ] [ ding ] [ disk ] [ do ] [ DP ] [ driver ] [ drivers ] [ du ] [ E ] [ ec ] [ ed ] [ eh ] [ er ] [ era ] [ es ] [ et ] [ extension ] [ fact ] [ fi ] [ file ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ fr ] [ ge ] [ gh ] [ gi ] [ gn ] [ gr ] [ h ] [ hat ] [ hex ] [ hing ] [ hOSe ] [ hr ] [ ht ] [ hu ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ iff ] [ il ] [ in ] [ int ] [ interface ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ is ] [ it ] [ J ] [ Jargon File ] [ K ] [ ke ] [ ki ] [ kw ] [ la ] [ ld ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ lOSe ] [ ls ] [ lu ] [ ly ] [ M ] [ ma ] [ Mac ] [ magic ] [ man ] [ mm ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ mode ] [ model ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ ms ] [ na ] [ nc ] [ ne ] [ ng ] [ nl ] [ nn ] [ no ] [ ns ] [ nu ] [ O ] [ om ] [ op ] [ open ] [ option ] [ pa ] [ PD ] [ PDP ] [ PDP-10 ] [ pe ] [ peripheral ] [ ph ] [ pl ] [ pr ] [ product ] [ program ] [ programmer ] [ pt ] [ query ] [ rc ] [ re ] [ requirements ] [ ro ] [ ru ] [ S ] [ sb ] [ sc ] [ screw ] [ se ] [ sh ] [ si ] [ sig ] [ sk ] [ sl ] [ so ] [ source ] [ spec ] [ st ] [ su ] [ sy ] [ system ] [ T ] [ tap ] [ tape ] [ tape drive ] [ tc ] [ th ] [ to ] [ tool ] [ tr ] [ tt ] [ ua ] [ up ] [ us ] [ uy ] [ V ] [ va ] [ VAX ] [ ve ] [ vi ] [ X ] [ yt ]
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