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Re: MMW features/price

From: "Tim Gray" <>
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 17:42:57 -0400

Hmmm, doesn't USB use only 4 or 5 wires? if so then a mini-din connector
(or micro din for that fact) that has a size of 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch would
work well and then wouldn't need extra room... there are connector
solutions out there.. but the problem lies in the fact that big companies
want their product to only work with their products... they want you to buy
from their holy grail and not the other evil manufacturers.. so the
argument about connectors is worthless, amphenol makes so many connectors
(and connectors are being designed every day) that space is not a concern,
but durability is! those tiny connectors cannot handle being stepped on,
smashed in a doorjamb, or ran over by a truck. There is an interesting note
in the latest issue of pen computing that talks about the "everything"
gizmo.. and that it is still very far away (10 to 15 years) and that there
isn't a market for it... there are gagillions of cell phone users, but only
a handful of wireless data customers.. (same company, same coverage, no
demand for it) and the customer base is not expanding fast enough to keep
the technology viable.  the biggest problem consumers had with wireless
data was cost, ASTRONOMICAL cost. (except for a few small companies) in
fact the national company using the ARDIS network charges higher fees than
using a cell phone and a modem would cost you. (gee and they wonder why
noone buys it) 

----------
: From: Gregory Martin Pfeil <>
: To: 
: Subject: Re: MMW features/price
: Date: Wednesday, June 10, 1998 4:36 PM
: 
: On Wed, 10 Jun 1998  wrote:
: >
: > > Actually, at the recent International Conference on Wearable
Computing in 
: > > Fairfax, VA, numerous port standard committees were formed to address
this 
: > > issue.
: > 
: > yes, we talked at length on ports.
: > 
: > i'm the chair of the "physical implementation" subcommittee, so if
folks
: > have any thoughts on connectors, etc.. please let me know so that i can
: > make sure these are included or at least considered in our first
proposal.
: 
: IrDA comes to mind, but that requires LOS, no?  The only other thing I 
: can think of is to have the connectors attached to the box via short 
: cables.  The unused connectors may dangle a bit, but at least they won't 
: increase the size of the casing.
: 
: --
: Gregory Martin Pfeil     SoftWear Engineer
: mailto:   http://falcon.jmu.edu/~pfeilgm/

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