Recently, I described Toslink in an internet conversation...the other person expected it to be like USB. It is pretty amazing how old this technology is and how little anyone complains about it.

There just aren't Toslink horror stories floating around the popular internet (SPDIF is another WTF-a-75Ω-RCA-cable? story). Toslink is a technology that just works (and the normal limit is a generous 10m)