When Serial Ports Were Serial Ports

Before my OnePlus 6 arrived a few weeks back, I made sure to order a few extra USB-C charging cables from Amazon. I always wore out the older micro-cables very quickly. I nearly vowed I'd start purchasing them by the dozen.

On Mastodon today, I found this in my feed:


Remember the sound of an old modem? It was uniquely comforting to have audio confirmation of the handshake process. (Excuse me while I go find and listen to an example. Got some! Try: Sound Jay.) I'm wiping my eyes now and it is surely because of the pollen outside.

Even the photo of the old serial bus connection allowed me to reminisce. I liked how one really felt sure when plugging two devices together this way! That was a connection! It felt more manly than the wimpy little connector by which my phone is currently connected. It was sort of like the tactile feedback provided when inserting an old 1/4" plug on a pair of headphones. Sigh.

The talk of modems reminded me how I convinced my college to buy an 8-port 'Galactiboard' for our BBS system. I wonder if I still have an early 1990's copy of THE MAJOR BBS, or WorldGroup Server, on floppies somewhere? Long live RIPscript!