资料来源 : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

dread high bit disease
     
         A condition endemic to {PRIME} (also known as
        "PR1ME") {minicomputers} that results in all the characters
        having their high bit (0x80, see {meta bit}) ON rather than
        OFF.  This complicates transporting files to other systems and
        talking to true 8-bit devices.  Folklore had it that PRIME
        adopted the convention in order to save 25 cents per {serial
        line} per machine; PRIME old-timers, on the other hand, claim
        they inherited the disease from {Honeywell} via customer
        NASA's compatibility requirements and struggled heroically to
        cure it.  Whoever was responsible, this probably qualifies as
        one of the most cretinous design tradeoffs ever made.  A few
        other machines have exhibited similar brain damage.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (2002-04-09)