RadioBanter - View Single Post

October 24th 03, 05:42 AM

In article ,
(Andrew VK3BFA) writes:

(Tim Shoppa) wrote in message
.com...
"Clifton T. Sharp Jr." wrote in message
...
I can see where some didn't sell well enough to warrant much more than
an occasional run of a hundred thousand or so. But hell, the other day
I found a tube of zero-crossing switch ICs in storage and Googled on
the part number, and it looks like there's enough demand for these
things that I could get well over $600 for the tube!

Assuming you could find the buyers. Those guys selling them for Big
Buck$ (and we're both making the assumption that they are selling...
we don't actually know that!) probably wouldn't offer you a dime for your
tube of 'em.

Tim.

Yep, we have reached the logical heights of electronic absurdity -
parts are discontinued so rapidly that I am seeing big television
sets, 12 months old, with discontinued chips in them (Philips seem to
be the worse in this department). Added to this the price of new
domestic equipment (TV,VCR etc) is so cheap that it is indeed "throw
away". Pity I am trying to still make a living fixing these things.

Okay, so how does anyone justify spending $40 to $60 an hour
repair charges for an $89 DVD-VHS dual-deck unit purchaseable
at the Fry's Electronics chain?

Nearly all consumer electronics things work just fine right out of
the packing box and stay that way for years.

If you get more than the statutory 12 months life from it, then thats
a bonus - or, think like an MBA and realise it has cost you $5 a week
to run.....

The generation gap widens ever more, and, like the dinosaurs, we who
remember spares in stock NOW are a dying breed....

Keep in mind what happened to the dinosaurs. :-)

Adapt. Don't stand around in museums 24/7.

Len Anderson
retired (from regular hours) electronic engineer person