Talk:LocalTalk

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I've noticed an item in two articles that contradict each other: AppleTalk says ("PhoneNet was considerably less expensive to install and maintain, and it is perhaps surprising that Apple did not move to this solution as well.") vs LocalTalk ("eventually Apple itself abandoned LocalTalk wiring and marketed PhoneNet as LocalTalk"). Can someone confirm if Apple ever offered a PhoneNet solution? --Steven Fisher 14:20, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

I think it's probably more accurate to say that they let traditional STP LocalTalk die out -- I don't believe they ever actually sold PhoneNet transceivers (Farallon created them, and they did eventually become something of a generic commodity). But by that time Ethernet was well on its way to its current market dominance -- I think LocalTalk as a network layer was all but dead by around 1994-5 when Apple started including AAUI and then 10Base-T ports on their hardware. The crossover cable killed ad hoc LocalTalk networking, and the elimination of the RS-422 serial port was just a shovel of dirt on the grave. The only place you still see it is in places where old 68K Macs (especially compact Macs) are recycled as terminals on small networks, and there aren't even all that many of those left. Haikupoet 18:21, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

I've updated the page. How does this look? --Steven Fisher 13:20, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] More LocalTalk vs. PhoneNet

The article curently contains the following language:

In addition to being lower cost, PhoneNet-wired networks were more reliable due to the connections being more difficult to accidentally disconnect. The improved reliability and lower cost led to PhoneNet largely supplanting LocalTalk wiring in low cost networking.

This struck me as funny because I always found Apple's locking LocalTalk DIN connectors to provide more reliable connections than the PhoneNet connectors. (Admittedly, my net was a mix of genuine Farralon PhoneNet and Belkin clones.) For me, the problem was "connectoritis"; the signal levels on the PhoneNet simply weren't large enough to overcome all the various oxides and the like that built up on the various connections in the PhoneNet system. (The Apple auto-terminating adapters were also far more clever than the PhoneNet plug-in termination resistors.)

Any other opinions? Should we moderate what sounds like POV to me?

Atlant 23:20, 16 July 2005 (UTC)