"When all you have is an Ethernet port, everything looks like a broadband connection"
Except that a phone circuit doesn't. And despite your desire for broadband being available and affordable it both isn't and isn't. Phone lines, on the other hand, are ubiquitous. It is quite possible that laptops will entirely drop modems before too long, but in actual fact modems weren't a standard feature on laptops for a long time. Often they were optional (or not optional). Some laptops had a design which incorporated a space for one (generally of a proprietary design), but if you were unlucky you could always use a PCMCIA modem. The new Asus EEE has space for an optional internal modem. This is a brand new design but because it's so small you'd have to assume the designers had a very good reason to make space for one. These days modems "just work", providing you don't futz with them. External modems and Linux "just work". PCMCIA modems "just work". The fly in the ointment is the so-called "winmodem" or "soft modem", which, despite being massive futzed with, remarkably, in a number of instances also "just work" (if I'd realised Chris T's return address was borked you would have seen a message from me attesting to that fact). In addition, modem feature sets are well known, and sofware to operate a modem is easily available, so it takes little if any "programmer's time" to make a modem work. You will also notice that Chris T is not complaining that his modem doesn't work. He has an external modem and a USB interface that is working fine (with Linux). So, like it or not, modems will be here for a while longer. Better brush up on your PPP-fu. Andrew On Fri, November 30, 2007 14:15, Don Gould wrote: > How much longer are we going to see new laptops produced with modems in > them? > > I don't think it's worth a programers time to make a modem work. > > > I think focus should be on getting broadband available and affordable. > > > Cheers Don > > > Chris wrote: > >> On Fri, 2007-11-30 at 13:41 +1300, Nick Rout wrote: >> >>> Not sure why this has gone offlist so I'll post my reply back to the >>> list.. >>> >>> Yes but the point is most open source developers don't need a >>> winmodem so why would they get involved in development for them? >>> >>> People develop what interests them or what their employers/sponsors >>> pay them to develop. As most winmodem manufacturers aren't really that >>> interested in the open source market they are not paying linux >>> developers.. >>> >> >> True enough. Which does not solve the problem of a traveller with a >> laptop. Hence the need for a USB to serial connector, and a hardware >> modem. >> >> I have never had this combination fail, despite where I have used it. >> >> >> I did once (in error?) try a Linuxant driver with an asus laptop using >> an ac97 soft modem. Eventually gave up, as in the end the tech's at >> Linuxant admitted there >> were modulation error's in the linuxant driver. Cost me 30$ US too :-( >> cheers Chris T > > -- > Don Gould > 2/59 Peverel Street, Riccarton, Christchurch, New Zealand > Phone: +64 3 348 7235 - Mobile: +64 21 114 0699 > www.thinkdesignprint.co.nz >
