On Thu, Sep 10, 2020 at 11:26:39AM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
I just noticed that the latest printer that we bought (Brother HO-L5000D) came with an odd cable (matching an odd connector on the printer).
On one end, there was the conventional-since-the-IBM-PC DB25M connector. On the other end, there was a 3-row, 26-pin mail D connector. I don't remember seeing this connector before.
When did this get invented? I don't think that I've noticed it before. (Parallel ports for printers are pretty much replaced by USB these days. I do have antique computers that are pre-USB but I don't print from them.)
Why did this get invented? Was this to prevent serial/parallel confusion? I do remember being annoyed at IBM selecting the DB25 instead of using the industry-standard "Centronics" connector because serial and parallel could so easily get mixed up.
I will probably save the cable forever. I'll probably never use it. If I need to, I'll probably be unable to find where I've stored it.
It appears the cable is called the Brother PC-5000 and is only used for that model of printer. I guess they wanted a smaller connector on the printer for some reason and decided a proprietary cable could solve that problem? Apparently in some parts of the world the cable is included while in other parts of the world you have to buy it if you want to use the parallel port. -- Len Sorensen