Semi-OT: IDE & SATA to USB "dongles"

[Tony Duell]

> Tony, I am not telling you what you enjoy or don't.  I was simply =
> commenting
> on your many many statements that troubleshooting to a component level =
> is
> your belief in the right way to do things.  If you feel I was =

I beleie you can't know you've cured a fault unless you know what the 
fault wss (just having the fault go away is not good enough!). And the 
only way to know where the fault is is to trace it to the component. At 
which point you might as well do component level repair (_finding_ the 
fault is what takes the time, replacing a component, even a 100+ pin SMD 
chip, is a lot quicker).


> criticizing,
> then I apologize for my comments.  I was merely saying that I don't
> understand why you can't do both: fix old time computers and be intimate
> with the latest and greatest.  Both are fun.  If you are interested in =

If you enjoy that, fine. That is no reason for me to _have_ to enjoy it too.

> only
> one aspect of the hobby, more power to you.  It's your life.
> 
> As for my likes, yes I use a soldering iron and oscilloscope every day.  =
> As
> play, I also design using TTL and linear, though usually with a wire =
> wrap
> gun instead of solder.  For example, I spent last weekend repairing a =

I was using the term 'solcering iron' somewhat figuratively. Obviously I 
regard wire-wrap as being equivalent in this context.

I like wire wrap, and it's certainly reliable, but the problem I have 
with it is that the special sockets are expensive and have to be 
mail-ordered over here. So for quick projects (10 or so ICs) I find it 
quicker to solder it. Verowire (or whatever it's called now) is fast, not 
as reliable as wire-wrap, bnt OK for making test circuits, etc (heck, I 
built a complete transputer system using Verowire, it ran fine for 10 
years It would probalby still run if I powered it up).

[...]

> love my G4's and have ordered a Quad G5.  I use a laptop constantly, and =
> see
> nothing wrong with playing with the latest offerings from Microsoft.  =

Well, considering Microsoft OSes (at least the ones I've had the 
misfortune to use) are closed-source, difficult to use, crash if you look 
at them worng, and have as much security as a tissue paper front door, I 
am not sure why I should like them.

> It's
> all a big game. Why not play with the entire genre?

This is about as sensible as saying that 'pianos and guitars are musical 
instruments, if you enjoy playing one you _must_ necessarily enjoy the 
other'. 

To be honest, I am not a 'computer person'. I don't much enjoy 
programming. I'm an electronics/mechanical person. I like tinkering with 
hardware, but it computers, radios, cameras, clocks, whatever. So I could 
turn your statement round and say 'Well, you enjoy working on your 1962 
mainframe, why don't you strip down an M-series Leica. It's all machinery 
after all'

-tony