From: Moritz v. Buttlar (info_at_baltic-microsolutions.de)
Date: 2001-04-05 09:34:20
> I have 1 laptop with & 1 without IrDA & don't think $30 is
> unreasonable, but it _is_ proabably a significant cost for some
> people, especially considering how cheap the rest of the devide will
> be. I think there are a lot of other machines on the market using
> serial connections w. optic coupling.
My point is that we want to make a machine people can build by their own by
using our plans. This is different from designing a product that will be
manufactured in a factory. If we want to recommend people to build their own
from our plans, we have to make sure that they choose the right housing, only
use exactly the same parts we used and so on. If they donīt follow our orders
100% or if they decide on their own that some of our safety options arenīt
necessary then the machine might be quite dangerous to use.
Thatīs why I think if we implement batteries and infrared data communications
people can make less mistakes when they build the device.
If we want to mass-produce most of the devices then it wouldnīt make much of a
difference.
> Rex Hartzell's Discovery
> Engineering Inc. machine, for example. Lexicor connects their stuff
> to the parallel port. As a non-geek, I don't know why you would want
> to use serial rather than parallel, since I always though parallel
> was inherently faster, carrying 8 bits at once instead of 1.
Itīs because the serial port is fast enough for our purpose. Itīs easier
to isolate because only 3 wires are necessary. And it doesnīt interfere with
printers. There are also more computer-brands equipped with standard RS232
ports then with parallel ports.
Moritz
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