"Steven Schveighoffer" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:op.voyerqyseav...@steve-laptop... > On Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:44:10 -0500, Nick Sabalausky <[email protected]> wrote: > >> "Walter Bright" <[email protected]> wrote in message >> news:[email protected]... >>> Max Samukha wrote: >>>> On 01/06/2011 09:38 PM, Walter Bright wrote: >>>>> http://www.drdobbs.com/blog/archives/2011/01/patterns_of_bug.html >>>>> >>>>> (dedicated to bearophile!) >>>>> >>>>> Anyone want to post it on reddit? >>>> >>>> Good points. However, computer hardware analogies are a bit outdated. >>>> For >>>> example, USB is prevalent nowadays. You connect a USB keyboard, mouse >>>> or >>>> whatever to a slot, which is closest to you and forget about it. >>> >>> Yes, USB is a big improvement. So is SATA. >>> >> >> IDE's been keyed for a long time too. Wasn't originally, but has been >> for a >> long time now. > > SATA is better not because of the keyed nature of it. How many times I > have tried to twist around my IDE cables so they would be the right way to > plug into two components! > > That small cable makes a world of difference. Same thing with HDMI -- > instead of 3-5 clunky cables that hopefully are color coded correctly, you > get one cable transmitting all data. >
I thought Walter was talking specifically about the keying. Also, I use these on my IDE drives which have been around for quite a few years: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0285984 (They do something special with the shielding inside so that the wires don't have to be in a big ribbon). Granted, SATA cables are even better still, but these are still a huge improvement over the older-style IDE cables.
