Msg: 7111 *Conference*

04-15-97 16:44:57

From: RON WIESEN

To : COMET _

Subj: REPLY TO MSG #7108 (WISH LIST)

Dang near my thoughts last night as I mauled it over during the hour drive
homeward.  Comet, you got E.S.P. or do small minds like ours just think alike?
I also considered physical ways to bank switch (4 32-K ROMs) rather than just
electronic bank switching.  Thought thread started with "physical space to
piggy-back ROMs on top of each other", "even flat-pack ICs stacked 4-high may
be too big a brick to allow door closure on laptop bottom", "new plastic door
with dished-out space".  Thread ended with "feet required, else laptop can't
sit level", "knob in new plastic door which user rotates to bank switch in the
preferred ROM of the brick".

This may not be what Rick needs.  He may need electronic bank switching "on the
fly" among the applications (View80, VT-100, etc) so the user's impression is
of one big application that is seamless.

On a related topic, how about a 32-K flat-pack ROM that's atop the Standard ROM
(enough clearance to laptop bottom?) and "shadows" operation to "usurp control"
for bug fixes.  The hard-coded "19" of the year comes to mind - shadow ROM is
hard-coded "20".  Of course a Programmable Array Logic (PAL) is needed to
monitor bus address/data and bank-switch where bugs exist.  But it need not
take much physical space.  Then cold-start leaves you with January 1, 2000.