[1263] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Fortezza dying on the vine?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Gutmann)
Mon Jul 28 09:37:46 1997
From: pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann)
To: PADGETT@hobbes.orl.mmc.com, cryptography@c2.net
Reply-To: pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz
X-Charge-To: pgut001
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 00:05:27 (NZST)
>Expect three flavors - direct, dedicated readers (but don't hold your breath -
>too many machines already have all IRQs in use). These will be the most
>expensive - unless under $40-$50, forget it except for very very nervous.
>
>Second flavor would be a PCMCIA (PCCARD) carrier. Most notebooks today have
>more than one slot.
>
>Third (and I think essential for mass market) is a 3.5" floppy carrier. Saw
>one over a year ago from Fischer but cost is a problem - must be under U$10.00
>to be sucessful.
There's a fourth kind which you haven't mentioned: Readers built into
keyboards. These are starting to appear (mainly in Europe), require no extra
IRQ's or slots or serial ports or whatever, and only a small change in the
keyboard driver software. Most of the components (case, lead, connector to
computer, power source, interface circuitry) are already present, so the cost
is relatively low. It remains to be seen how popular they'll become though.
Peter.
