1966 Mag: Build NE-2 Neon Bulb Computer - scan available

davis wrote: Why is it so surprising? In the portable device arena, where the 'average' person changes their gadgets every couple of years for ones with the latest features, it's the vendors who are dictating ever-smaller, ever-faster chips which necessitate the higher densities. They don't care if the thing dies in three years. In fact, that works entirely in their interest as, providing everybody's doing it (which they are it seems), it means they sell more product than they would otherwise. Call it a good incentive for consumers to upgrade. I believe the three year stuff hasn't left the lab yet (and I suspect it doesn't matter which chip manufacturer you go to - the densities involved mean that's the sort of lifetime you get; it's not a by-product of the manufacturing process used being 'wrong' in some way), but it's where things are heading for the 'next generation' of compact, portable equipment. Now, I don't much care for portable gadgets myself anyway - I wouldn't use a phone to play music or access the 'net for instance, so I can get away with an older model which hopefully has higher design lifetime. What worries me though is the trend for other devices to follow the same "smaller, faster" design parameters and with the prices falling through sheer numbers sold making them commodity items. How long before it's acceptable for a laptop* or a home DVD player to need replacing every three years? * On the business side, that's probably getting close to how often they're swapped out for a newer model anyway :( What I'd *like* to see is some notion of design lifespan quoted as part of product marketing - making it a legal requirement if necessary (as I believe things like crash-test and fuel consumption data is for cars, at least in the UK). That way at least it'd help raise lifespan as an issue amongst the public (because let's face it, the average person seems to love throwing money at new toys every couple of years anyway). The cynic in me says that the politicians have a vested interest in keeping the corporations sweet by allowing them to shift as much product as possible, though :-(