"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)