vthrc@brolga.cc.uq.oz.au (Danny Thomas) (03/08/91)
Hi netland,
we've got quite a few plus's here and at least one user
doesn't like the keyboard and would much prefer an SE style. We could look
at third-party products, but they are a little expensive in Australia so
I'm wondering whether anyone has designed a converter to hook up an ADB
keyboard into a plus. It doesn't have to handle the mouse if that make
things any easier - Ian's complaint is against the keyboard (I hate both
it and mouse).
I would have thought it fairly easy to program one of the single-chip
(CMOS?) micros (+ROM) to at least handle the keyboard. Maybe it's harder
than I imagine, but it would be great if somebody's done it and could
supply circuit, PCB artwork file (although we could lash one up on
perf-board) and source-code for us to burn external ROM.
PS what makes this attractive is that apparently the LC comes bundled with
a keyboard here, and we should be able to pick up a few of those keyboards
cheaply from people who want an extended keyboard but will be keeping the
supplied mouse.
PPS YAWAA (yet another whinge at Apple) why did it take them so long to
design keyboards so ADB connectors weren't sticking out like Prince
Charle's ears. Also why is the mouse cable so l.o.n.g it drapes over half
your desk, develops little bends in it and generally looks daggy??
I replaced mine with a 25cm (oops 10 inch for all those non-metric
countries, places like Yemen and what was the other one, aah the US)
length of 4wire telephone cable. In case I wanted to restore things I kept
my original cable, since Apple won't supply a replacement mouse cable.
Does anyone supply a replacment mouse cable with moulded ADB plug that I
wouldn't have qualms about shortening?
Danny Thomas
Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre
University of Queensland Australia 4072.Justin_Randall_Padawer@cup.portal.com (03/11/91)
Olduvai almost released a pair of adapters which would allow ADB peripherals to be used on earlier Macs and vice versa (earlier mice to be used with later ADB-equipped Macs). Unfortunately, there was not enough demand, according to their market research, and the project was dropped. This adapter would have included ADB chip circuitry; it's sad this never saw light. I don't know of another similar product ever released. With regard to Prince Charles' ears, c'mon and give the guy a break. I much prefer saying something like, "the ADB connectors used to stick out like Queen Elizabeth's lips"... much better, I think. Anyway, see you on the net. Randy Padawer Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Internet: Justin_Randall_Padawer@cup.portal.com
6500erik@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Erik Adams) (03/11/91)
I don't have anything to way about the English royalty, but the reason I heard for Olduvai not coming out with the product was a little different than the one I just read. I read that they found there was no way to account for all the different things that can be connected to a Mac by way of ADB: modems, keyboards, mice, and graphics tablets; one company even uses the ADB port as a means of software protection using an electronic ADB key: if the key isn't connected to the computer, the software won't run. A simple "plug in and play" solution couldn't be found. But then again, I could be completely wrong. Yeah, that's it: it all happened in a dream. Erik 6500erik@ucsbuxa.bitnet or 6500erik@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu "Hey everybody, guess who suffers from high anxiety!"