🚀 go-pugleaf

What sort of transmission medium and CONNECTORS do we have in mind here?

Fibre is, well, Not ideal for short runs IMHO, like runs between a
floppy disk drive, and cpu would seem painful.  Small 25 pin D-sub style
connectors or even 50-pin ribbon with interleaved ground would seem more
well suited for short runs

My Idea of *IDEAL* for *ANY* machine would be a system of snap-together
lego (tm) style blocks with an arbitrary length bus.  Blocks would have
a defined size (Say 6" square?) one block being a "mother-block"

2 - tier "mother" block

    +---+
   /   /|
  /   / |
 /   /* |    Single tier blocks
+---+ * |       +---+       +-------+
|   | * |      /   /|      /       /|
|   |   |     /   / |     /       / |
|   | * |    /   /* |    /       /* |
|   | * +   +---+ * +   +-------+ * +
|   | */    |   | */    |       | */
|   | /     |   | /     |       | /
|   |/      |   |/      |       |/
+---+       +---+       +-------+

* = BUS PINS

Each block could be snapped on or off the "bus" at will with all the
neccessary connection pins / controls on the front or back edges of the
block.  Blocks should/could be stackable, with larger blocks obviously
on the bottom of a stack.

The Blocks could interconnect in any manner, even see-saw if neccessary,
and could be fastened together with simple snap-latches (No fripping
screws).  One could just snap on whatever one needed, out to shoebox
length or stak on top, or whatever.

Juice could/should be supplied by the mother block, with perhaps the
keyboard interface.  The Thickness of a block can be arbitrary in say
increments of 1 inch.  Cooling if needed should be provided
independently in the blocks that require it by small fans, etc.

Adding a disk drive would involve snapping on a disk block.  New video
block?  Snap it on.  CPU?  Snap it on.  Floppy? Tape?  Snap, snap.

This type of arrangement would also allow connection of say a ribbon
cable to another set of blocks.

<SIGH>  not in my lifetime I suppose.
-- 
Keith Smith          uunet!ksmith!keith            5719 Archer Rd.
Digital Designs      BBS 1-919-423-4216            Hope Mills, NC 28348-2201
Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...