Sarah Got a Gun...
Eisboch wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
m...
Eisboch wrote:
"jim78565" wrote in message
...
HK wrote:
Well..I am pretty good at assemblying computer from component
parts, and general soldering, but you guys are beyond my abilities.
By component parts do you mean assemblies or discrete components?
Any three year old can screw together a case fans PS MB etc.
Especially if he has a set of fine German screwdrivers to work with.
In the old days, real "skill" meant determining *what* component or
components needed to be replaced using a schematic, meter and/or an
o'scope.
Much of today's modern electronic circuitry has built in diagnostics
that scream "replace me" when they go bad.
Eisboch
Well, since moving over to the "silver side" with an Apple desktop and
an Apple laptop, I haven't given a lot of thought to building up
another fast "PC" computer. I did turn my last PC desktop into a server.
I have been keeping up to speed, though, on the "Hackintosh" projects.
These are computers built from standard PC components to run the Apple
OS.
There's really no need to solder components in order to build a
superfast desktop computer, and there hasn't been for decades.
Soldering isn't what I was referring to. That's a basic physical skill
that anyone can learn, along with the more important skill of how to
"de-solder" without destroying a printed circuit board.
At the technician level, I was referring to having the knowledge of how
individual components worked, meaning tubes, resistors, transistors,
capacitors, etc. and having the ability to determine which of them were
not working properly ... or at all by applying measurements to your
knowledge base. Electronics obviously has changed. It's now mostly
board level replacement, based on published problem symptoms and
troubleshooting guides. It's a vast improvement, for sure, but I can't
say it requires the same level of education, skill and knowledge
required of the old fashioned TV repairman of yesteryear.
Engineers used to design products uniquely for the types of components
they used and for their application. In the old days that's what made
a Macintosh (the amplifier, not the computer) sound like a Mac, and
not a Pioneer or Sansui.
To me a computer is just a case that houses a bunch of third party
supplied, standardized components that basically plug in and work. If
your Seagate drive dies, unplug it, unscrew it and replace it with a
Western Digital and it will work fine. Most of the board level
replacements in a computer cost less to replace than the time it would
take to find a specific component problem.
Eisboch (old school)
That's pretty much it, plug and play.
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