edge connector rarity [was Re: HP9836C colour alignment (grey scale tracking)]

[der Mouse]

>>> I notice that edge connectors are a lot less common than they used
>>> to be.  [...]
>> What's the difference between an "edge connector" and, say, the
>> connector used for a PCI card or a modern peecee memory stick?
> Last time I saw a PCI card and a PC motherboard that took it, the
> connector was certainly what I would call an 'edge connector.  A
> finer pitch han the ISA one, but still an edge connector

Okay, so I havne't misunderstood anything there.

> I have to admit the latest memory modules that I've handled are
> SIMMs.  The connector on those is _close_ to being an edge connector,
> but [...actually pressure, not wiping...]

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that.  DIMMs don't do that, at least in my
experience; they are wiping contacts, very much like PCI or ISA slots.
(I speculate that this is because while, like SIMMs, they have
connection pads on both sides, they also, unlike SIMMs, connect
different things to different sides' pads - and the pressure connectors
SIMMs use aren't very well suited to that sort of pinout.)

/~\ The ASCII				  Mouse
\ / Ribbon Campaign
 X  Against HTML		mouse at rodents-montreal.org
/ \ Email!	     7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39  4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B