At 03:02 PM 1/7/2003 +0000, you wrote: >Why not Ethernet to USB ?? you can already get Ethernet to parallel / >serial, also an Ethernet to USB would be useful also for people wishing to >use USB printers on a network. >(You can already get USB -> Ethernet, so why not the other way round?). >Admittedly it may be quite pricy as it would probably need to be a mini >network server with shared USB ports, but it should be possible. >Ben.
Generally speaking, you can fairly easily translate from a "smarter" interface to a "dumber" interface, but going the other way around is fairly difficult. Serial, parallel, and ethernet are all fairly dumb, while SCSI, USB, and PCMCIA are fairly smart. This is why you have USB-Serial, USB-Ethernet, and the like, but you won't find Ethernet-SCSI, Ethernet-USB, etc without a lot of extra logic in there. Going a bit deeper, USB is capable of carrying just about anything with the right drivers, which is why it works for all the various adapters. PCMCIA too, is fairly universal. Ethernet, on the other hand, uses Ethernet frames and not much else. You have to have a device that could, for example, convert whatever you have plugged into the USB port into Ethernet frames, which is then translated back into something usable. Possible, but takes a lot more logic. Anyway, that's about it :) Scott Holder -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
