Who, Me? Techie sent to fix Nobel Prize winner’s PC almost set it on fire
- ID
- 22057
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 07 Sep 2026, 2:30 PM
- Fetched
- 07 Sep 2026, 3:24 PM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/09/07/who-me-techie-sent-to-fix-nobel-prize-winners-pc-almost-set-it-on-fire/5294430
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 1.5
- Created
- 07 Sep 2026, 3:24 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_coders
What happened
A reader-contributed anecdote to The Register's 'Who, Me?' column recounts an early-1990s incident where a junior techie supporting university professors nearly destroyed an IBM PC by plugging an IBM proprietary mouse into a standard RS-232 port. Because the 9-pin connectors were physically identical but had different power pinouts, the mismatch caused the machine to smoke, risking the work of future Nobel laureates.
Why it matters
This is a historical IT war story with no practical takeaway for modern builders; it serves purely as entertainment about the dangers of physically compatible but electrically incompatible hardware.
Discussion angle
A quick lighthearted icebreaker about legacy hardware pitfalls and how standardization has reduced (but not eliminated) similar connector mismatches today.