Although the serial port may not be fossilized, it originally appeared with the first presentation of the IBM PC. Serial ports have largely been replaced by USB ports (and devices that use serial ports to communicate now use USB). But your computer may have one or two serial ports.
However, you can still find the following serial devices from time to time (usually used, probably on eBay):
- Modems
- Game controllers (especially more complex gamepads)
- Digital cameras
- Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Docks for Palm and Pocket PC Units
Serial devices are not plugged in and turned on, so you have to restart your computer before Windows recognizes them. Also, serial devices—particularly modems—may require additional manual configuration within Windows, such as editing files with Notepad and turning off certain port features.