🚀 go-pugleaf

CoinSpin wrote:
> Pretty sad when consoles are becoming more "plug & play" than the PCs 
> that originated the phrase.

David Alex Lamb wrote:
> Nitpick: I'm pretty sure it was the Mac that invented "plug & play."

CoinSpin  <coin^spam^spin@comcast.net> wrote:
>Well, true and false...  The Mac had "plug & play" capabilities for 
>quite a while previously, but Microsoft is generally credited with 
>coining the actual phrase as part of the sales pitch for Windows95.  

Well, the phrase "plug and play" predates both.  I had an Okidata ML92
printer from 1983 that supported a "Plug 'N Play" option.  It made it
emulate an IBM printer so in theory it could be used with an IBM computer
without requiring special Okidata drivers (for each of your applications).
I recall at the time that phrase wasn't unique to Okidata, and was sort
of a buzz word.

Note that early Macintoshes didn't support any sort of plug and play
functionality.  Plug and play refers to the ability to plug in some
sort of device into a computer and just have it work.  Early Macs didn't
support pluging in much of anything.

					Ross Ridge

-- 
 l/  //	  Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
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