Logan, On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 11:16 PM, Logan Streondj <[email protected]> wrote:
> One issue that many seem to overlook, is the longevity of hardware issue. > Fact is, that most hardware produced today, has a half-life of 4-7 years. > That is because they now use cheap plastic packaging, aluminum bonding wires, and don't gold plate much of anything. The military stuff lasts for about a century. I just purchased a 40-year-old analog computer. It had a broken resistor from shipment because the mounting bolts for a small power transformer had been omitted (possibly from the original factory) so the transformer had bashed the resistor, and it needed some alignment to compensate for its aging components - but the alignment controls were there to align, so this wasn't technically even a "repair". Now, it all checks out and is ready to be put back into service, in this case, to evaluate real-time algorithms for smart hearing aids. With this, prospective algorithms can be programmed in a few minutes, and changes can be made in a minute or so. In this next-generation design, the output is added to what the user hears without it, so the analysis must be instantaneous (a few microseconds of delay are OK, but a millisecond would be disastrous) in order to maintain proper phase relationships. Sure this could conceivably be done digitally, but this would be a big hassle, and there would be no apparent advantage in doing so. Of course I didn't have to go WAY back 40 years to find a suitable computer, but in addition to being quite functional it is a beautiful antique, complete with its glowing Nixie tube digital display. Besides, I only had to pay $312 for it. Steve ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-c97d2393 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-2484a968 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
