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USB On-The-Go

(computer.rip)
208 points jnord | 2 comments | 03 Jan 25 12:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.434s | source
1. qwertox ◴[07 Jan 25 20:56 UTC] No.42627358[source]▶
> for most of the '90s RS-232-ish serial and its awkward sibling the parallel port were the norm for external peripheral

The parallel port was a nice way to have GPIOs in a computer back then. A bit like the GPIOs in today's SBCs, but more rudimentary.

replies(1): >>42631414 #
2. topspin ◴[08 Jan 25 05:56 UTC] No.42631414[source]▶
Sometimes you read a post somewhere and the thoughts expressed stick with you for years. Decades even.

Once case for me is a post someone wrote in the late 90's that was concerned about parallel ports going away and everything being subsumed by USB et al, cutting off hobbyists and experimenters. It made a lot of sense at the time, and I've thought about this many times since.

Obviously USB has been widely embraced and is highly successful for experimenters, hackers, etc. Whatever friction it causes is so vanishingly small that few people today even suspect that there might be any reason for concern.

But yeah, I get what you're saying: built-in GPIOs on every box by default used to be a thing, and it would be cool to have even now.