Orphaned Response - (nf)

[Henry Spencer]

James Triplett asks why no flashing lights, commenting:

   ..............................................  The only reason I can
   think of to eliminate them is cost, but how much would it add to the
   cost of our IBM 3083 or VAX 780 to add a panel of lights- it would be
   trivial.  With LED's nowadays you don't even incure any maintenance
   cost.  ....

It's the usual sort of reason:  they get little use and cost a fair bit.
The cost is not a matter of the LEDs themselves, but of the mounting
hardware to hold them, and the effects this has on cabinet design.  You
would be *amazed* at the cost of bent sheet metal these days, when one
is talking about total production costs.  Most manufacturers take the
view that it's better to add a bit of cheap electronics (a console
monitor program) than a bunch of expensive hardware.

Don't get me wrong -- I miss the lights and switches too.  But I don't
expect them back.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry