Kirk,
Your Bush transcription link is incomplete.
Oops, fixed, thanks
Corollary to Kirk's Law: Any plug that can easily be ruined by inserting it wrong is broken by design.
I'm thinking of VGA plugs and others that have thin pins that bend easily if they're not lined up just right.
Aw jeez, yeah. And I had a keyboard PS/2 that had a similar fate...actually the little plastic guide pin snapped off in my PC from a previous keyboard, so now every new keyboard, i have to break off the plastic bit.
It's funny, it's like they didn't invent ergonomics 'til the mid-90s or something.
Well, they invented it, but we won't see it widespread until the patent expires. Opening a PC and swapping drives in and out is still a huge pain in the ass.
well, if memory serves, it's not so much the drive plug (though again, it's too easy to put in reversed) as the way most cases aren't that friendly to open, have the drives tucked behind stuff, and usually held into place with screws...I don't know if OS/BIOS have improved at plug-n-playing new hardware or not...
Actually, both hardware and software have improved in this regard. Cases are far more likely to have easy-access drive bays, serial ATA uses smaller, simpler cables, and both BIOSes and OSes are adept at detecting hard drives.
Are the cables clearly oriented so you don't put it in backwards?
I was never much of a PC hardware wonk or hotrodder. For me the interesting stuff is the software and the connectivity, so I try to treat PCs as much as an appliance as possible.
The Corollary to Kirk's Law is nearly exactly Murphy's Law, but with a different emphasis.
Murphy was an engineer on a USAF project to test human tolerance for acceleration, and the used a rocket-sled on a long track. After one such trip down, it was discovered that some or all of the data was useless because the sensors, having more than one possible way to install them, were installed the wrong way. So the original law was "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it."
Heh, I forgot that! Good point. http://www.geocities.com/murphylawsite/ repeats the story with a few more details. Also the talk about Finagle reminds of one of my favorite utterances "there is no god and murphy is his prophet"
I despise coaxial cables!