18 Jul
2007
18 Jul
'07
3:54 p.m.
<rant>
I'll make this vintage computer-oriented. How many people still own
a working dishwasher/clothes washer with an integral computer that
was manufactured over 10 years ago? When I first saw a dishwasher
with computerized control, my reaction was "What a damned fool thing
to do--put a computer in the absolutely worst (hot water, caustics,
steam) environment possible. Now you can't buy them any other way.
I think my parents bought some of the last electormechanically-controlled
models made..
You can see the manufacturer's point. A custom chip is a lot cheaper to
make than a cam-and-contacts timer. They can put the magic words
'computer', 'microprocessor',. 'digital', etc on the panel. And
it's
harder to repair if it fails (if a mechanical timer fails, you can fix
it, if the microprocessor fails, you have to buy a new PCB from the
manufacturers, if they don't want to sell you one, you're stuffed).
But now do you see why I stick to the old stuff...
-tony