Re: Observations on an old cat


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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.245.23] on Saturday, July 09, 2016 at 12:09:43 :

In Reply to: Re: Observations on an old cat posted by Mark in FLG [108.162.215.109] on Saturday, July 09, 2016 at 11:53:47 :

I understand your point. We like modern technology because it's very useful and cheap. But it also takes trillions of dollars worth of worldwide manufacturing, engineering, and software expertise to make cell phones work and keep them working. Just a chip fab line will set you back a couple billion dollars, and that's in a world where you can order all the precision equipment and ultra-pure materials from other companies. For all practical purposes a cell phone is pure magic and we're like some primitive cargo-cult tribe. Nobody understands everything that it takes to make one work. Groups of really smart people understand various pieces of the system. Manufacturing is spread all over the world -- it's too much for even one country to do it all these days.

That's a fragile system. Any number of things, from software bugs and solar storms to sabotage and war, can break it instantly. Phones that are obsolete will never function again. When's the last time you saw a "brick" type cell phone in use? If the system breaks and the world is not in a place to spend a trillion dollars rebuilding it, from silicon refineries to satellites, land-line telephones can be built with very simple 19th century technology, or the old ones can be dusted off and made to work.

In any case, I'm not saying old tech is automatically better. I'm just saying that I appreciate machinery that was designed to be maintainable forever by anyone with a good machine shop.



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