Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!hplabs!sri-unix!CC.Otken@UTEXAS-20.ARPA From: CC.Otken@UTEXAS-20.ARPA Newsgroups: net.micro.cpm Subject: Re: Dimension 68000 Message-ID: <12381@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Mon, 13-Aug-84 12:34:03 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12381 Posted: Mon Aug 13 12:34:03 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Aug-84 01:36:03 EDT Lines: 38 From: John OtkenI am not absolutely positive that the machine was a Dimension 68000 but it was a machine quite similar (emulates apple, ibm, etc).. Anyway the story goes: I went to a CP/M-UG meeting in Houston a few months back. One of the machines on demonstration was (probably) a Dimension 68000. I listened to the rep. going through all of the various features of the machine. At one point he was asked about mainframe communications. He went into this claim that the machine could communicate with ANY machine using ANY protocol. The rest of the conversation went something like: ME: "I seriously doubt that." HIM: "Sure it can." ME: "How do you do it?" HIM: "With translation tables." ME: "WHAT?" HIM: "Our machine uses THE [sic] standard serial protocol. The secret is we use translation tables to handle the various protocols." ME: "Could you give a more technical description?" HIM: "Sure. The table is at address C000. The serial port is at 30." ME: "Wait! That is not what I was asking for." HIM: "Look, you said you wanted a technical description. If you want to be technical, I am going to have to talk HEX." ME: "I don't think we are communicating..." HIM: "Well, that's because we have an Engineer talking to a User." ME: "Sure, if that makes you the User." HIM: "NO! I am the Engineer." ME: "OK, can this machine communicate with an IBM 370?" HIM: "Sure." ME: "How?" HIM: "Like I've been telling you -- over the standard serial protocol using a translation table." Fortunately, the place closed and I was saved from the intellectual torture of an extended conversation with this clown. John. -------