18 Jul
2003
18 Jul
'03
10:43 a.m.
It does worry
me that there's not a single microcomputer system made
today that I actually want to own....
But that just leaves space for the stuff you *do* want :-) More of a problem is that modern machines are
plain
unrepairable. Spares
are unavailable even now (when the machine is in production
-- you try
getting an ASIC for an Imac or similar...), so %deity knows
what it'll be
This has been true for quite a while now and it's only going to like in 10
years time. Technical manuals don't exist. The chances of
being able to keep these machines running is minimal :-(
The chances probably would not be much better even with a technical manual! Reworking those smt devices is a skill
I've not yet needed
to acquire (but, hey, how hard can it be!) but a 768 ball(pin?) BGA
is probably something that needs a specialist (i.e. expensive)
workstation (and even then the success rate seems not to be
In 10 years time hackers might be able to do this at home. They certainly
won't be able to do it if the chip (or the specs of said chip) are
unavailable.
-tony