List charter mods & headcount... ;-)

There is another issue here. Many of the machines that we currently consider to be classices -- The 8 bit micros, PDP11s, PPD8s, HP9100s, etc -- are repairable. Scheamtics exist, they were built from mostly standard parts that are still easy to get. If I need a chip for the I/O interface card in my HP9830 then most likely I can still get one. This, alas, doesn't apply to commodity PCs. Custom chips abound, schematics don't exist (and probably wouldn't be a lot of use if the did). I suspect that such machines will never really be repairable. A few years ago I gave a talk to HPCC on the internals of the HP9100. This was shortly after the HP49G had been announced. And I ended my talk by saying 'In 30 years time the HP49G will probably be unrepairable, but people will still be able to fix their 9100s using the information I've given here'. -tony