Date   : Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:27:50 +0100
From   : robert@... (Rob)
Subject: Box assorted floppies

On 27 July 2010 06:40, Mike Tomlinson <mike@...> wrote:
> In article <4C4E4346.6010808@...>, Rick Murray <rick@...>
> writes
>
>>See - some setups were Even Worse than Econet built upon T-pieces!
>
> OK - you win :-)

I used to work at a company that supported lots of small business
multi-user accounts systems. When I started there, I  found that their
preferred method of installing serial cabling to the dumb terminals,
or standalone PCs running emulators, was to use standard *BT telephone
sockets*!  OK, they usually mounted them upside down, but it was
ridiculous the number of PC serial ports and terminal ports we had to
repair or replace after users accidentally connected the cables from
them into actual telephone lines...  (around  60V AC on ringing..)
Once fully integrated motherboards became common, rather than drop-in
serial port cards, and it became a major undertaking replacing a
motherboard on a Windows PC, I managed to get them to start selling
Cat5 instead...

Rob