18 May
2004
18 May
'04
10:37 a.m.
On Tue, 18 May 2004, Paul Koning wrote:
And it must also be remembered that these folks did this when it was
economically feasible to spend a day or two tracking down and repairing a
problem. Business is time, and time is money, so as technology evolved
and came down in price, it became more practical to just swap boards (both
for the user and the supplier).
Sometimes we lose a sense of the more pragmatic aspects of tech work. If
your business is halted because a computer system is down, would you
rather your tech take a few hours or a day or two to track down and fix a
problem, or would you rather they swap a few boards in an hour or so until
they find the problem?
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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>>>> "Ashley" == Ashley Carder <wacarder(a)usit.net> writes:
Ashley> Where are guys like this now? Do any of them participate in
Ashley> "classic computer" activities, or have they moved on to other
Ashley> things, such as fishing or woodworking? The hobbyists sure
Ashley> could use guys like this from time to time, I would think.
> ...
> I remember our first PDP11 field service tech (circa 1973), a
> gentleman named Jim Newport. His skills were amazing.
I suspect Jim is retired now ... as would be most of his generation.
Later on, field service was more of a boardswap exercise, which means
you're less likely to see this level of skill. Unfortunately...