home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Organization: Senior, Physics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!gr1c+
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
- Message-ID: <0fM1TXe00Vop9cbGQq@andrew.cmu.edu>
- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 10:50:59 -0500
- From: Greg Howard Rhodes <gr1c+@andrew.cmu.edu>
- Subject: Am I the only one?
- Lines: 46
-
- At first I thought it was just because the computer store was
- clueless, but now I really am starting to believe that I am the only
- one. Let me explain.
-
- I really had little experience with actually OWNING a Mac, though I've
- used the ones at school a great deal. So I go and buy a Powerbook Duo
- 210. A friend of mine has a Mac Plus. Since my floppy drive and
- adapter had not come in yet, I wanted a way to install some software
- on my hard drive. According to the brochure, my computer was "capable
- of easy networking...like every Mac (tm)". Cool, I say, all I need is
- some sort of cable, right?
-
- So I ask the computer store, and first of all, they tell me that the
- best way to go Mac-to-Mac would be if I got a SCSI adaptor. After I
- convince them that the Duo doesn't have SCSI (and I really don't want
- to buy a DuoDock just for this purpose), they finally understand that
- I want to just go through AppleTalk. So then they tell me that I need
- a PhoneNet adaptor for both Macs, etc, etc, etc.
-
- I really don't think so, so I go to my friend's apartment with a
- serial cable, hook up the two Macs together, and have no problem with
- transferring files that way. Just hook up my printer/modem port to her
- Plus' printer port, turn on filesharing and appleshare, and ta-da!
- I've also done this connecting my Duo to a Mac II.
-
- I figure that the computer store just wanted to sell me something. BUT
- THEN-- I read the article in the latest MacUser about Powerbooks and
- what to bring along when on the road. And they talk about how easy it
- is to make your own networking cable. ("For about $75, you can make
- your VERY OWN NETWORKING CABLE! Just buy two PhoneNet adaptors, a big
- bunch of phone wire, and ta-da--now you can hook up your Powerbook to
- any other Mac!")
-
- Am I missing something? Am I the only one who knows this wonderful
- cheap method for hooking up two Macs with just a $10 serial cable?!?
-
- Greg Rhodes
- gr1c@andrew.cmu.edu
-
- ps. On a different note, in the same article, MacUser tells how I
- should probably bring along a MOUSE when I travel. This isn't an exact
- quote, but, "Most people like the Powerbook trackball. But how
- comfortable is that trackball going to be when you are sitting in that
- airline seat, or at your hotel desk?" Excuse me, MacUser, but isn't
- that the whole point of the trackball (not to mention a series of
- Macintosh propaganda ads against other laptops)???
-