That's a good point. Maybe he can replace the part of Win32::SerialPort that is trying to help him too much without having to dive into Win32API::CommPort.

I don't see serial ports going away anytime soon either given that most (all?) network devices have a serial console interface. Ditto for lights out (HP's Jargon) type cards that manage servers like iLOs, DRAC, RSC, etc. I suspect they will be around much, much longer than expected in some form or another.

Update: FWIW, I was just forecasting for some Lantronix devices to provide serial console access to our ACS appliances.