Aucbvax.2409 fa.info-terms utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!info-terms Wed Jul 22 18:50:11 1981 IBM 3101 >From decvax!duke!unc!smb@Berkeley Wed Jul 22 18:27:15 1981 The real problem with the IBM 3101 is not so much that it's a poor ASCII terminal, as that it's also a poor excuse for an ASCII version of IBM's 327x series terminals. Remember that IBM mainframes are NOT amenable to full-duplex ASCII. And, whether we like it or not, that's the way it is (sorry, Uncle Walter), and they have a huge installed base to deal with. Quite plainly, the design of the 3101 (the placement and labelling of the CTRL key, the full-duplex/LOCAL mode botch, the brain-damaged block mode and display highlighting, etc.) shows that the folks who designed the thing just plain don't understand the glass tty marketplace. I can excuse that on grounds of ignorance. But the terminal also doesn't quite cut the mustard as a 3278 with a different interface, because it's lacking a few keys that 3278 support requires. If they had 12 pfks instead of 8, keys labelled PA1, PA2, PA3, and a few others, they could have put a little bit of extra smarts in their communications controllers and achieved compatibility with all of their existing full-screen products. That they blew this one can only be chalked up to gross stupidity. And it's a shame, because in many ways the 3101 IS a nice terminal: clear, readable display, excellent keyboard feel, rugged construction, and a buffered mode that deals better with IBM controllers than any other on the market. ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.