Dumb terminals for daily use today; failure scenarios

[tony duell]

> If one were to use a dumb CRT terminal from the early '70s regularly in
> this day and age, would it be more prone to hardware failure than if it
> were kept in storage or just kept to look at but powered off?

If you never turn it on, how will you know if the hardware has failed?

More seriiously, I suspect the flyback transformer will fail more
quickly if it is used. And the CRT will lose emission. 

BUT.... Even if that happens, the outside appearance will be unchanged.
You will still be abe to keep it to look at. And if it is kept unpowered it 
will fail in the end. So my suggestion is to enjoy it now, fix it while you can,
and if the worst happens just look at it.

-tony