My "new" computer from this summer has already crashed, hard...Paraphrased from a longer article:
Voyager space missions which, since they were launched in August and September 1977 to explore outer space, have been travelling at 38,000 miles an hour away from us powered by computers made 40 years ago. The smartphone in your pocket has 240,000 times more memory.
The computer on board Voyager 1 uses just 12 watts (or the same kind of power used by a light bulb in a fridge) to transmit its data back to base, taking 38 hours, from way beyond the reaches of Saturn, Uranus and even Neptune — and it’s been working continuously all those years.
Why, then, do our own household computers and phones have a shelf-life of only about five years?
_________________________ NRA Endowment Member _________________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis
August 29, 2017, 08:59 AM
RogueJSK
So that you have to buy a new one every 5 years, naturally.
They're not in the business of building things that last forever. If they did, they'd soon run out of customers.
Whereas if you have to buy a new one every few years, they have a constant stream of revenue.
August 29, 2017, 09:04 AM
RHINOWSO
Because retail computers are a business,
August 29, 2017, 09:28 AM
Leemur
And no one is browsing the web with the voyager computer. No browser hijacks, malware, etc.
August 29, 2017, 09:35 AM
myrottiety
Cause it's hard to do Warranty work on the Voyager.
Train how you intend to Fight
Remember - Training is not sparring. Sparring is not fighting. Fighting is not combat.
"Being miserable and treating other people like dirt is every New Yorker's God-given right!" - GhostBusters II
"You have all the tools you need. Don't blame them. Use them." - Dan Worrall
August 29, 2017, 11:09 AM
ChuckFinley
I know the reasons. I also know what could be done differently to help. It's simply a rant.
_________________________ NRA Endowment Member _________________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis
August 29, 2017, 11:39 AM
41
Capacitors are usually the components that fail or degrade over time. Better quality capacitors would make the equipment last longer.
The cheap capacitors in my game cameras are causing a longer delay before the camera starts recording.
41
August 29, 2017, 12:16 PM
cslinger
But honestly how much porn could you really access with the Voyager probe.
"Guns are tools. The only weapon ever created was man."
August 29, 2017, 02:15 PM
Leemur
quote:
Originally posted by cslinger: But honestly how much porn could you really access with the Voyager probe.
How much do you need to access when you have a NASA grade probe?
August 29, 2017, 02:19 PM
ChuckFinley
Porn and probe in the same post, what could possibly go wrong with this?
_________________________ NRA Endowment Member _________________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis
August 29, 2017, 03:43 PM
jimmy123x
cost
quote:
Originally posted by ChuckFinley: My "new" computer from this summer has already crashed, hard...Paraphrased from a longer article:
Voyager space missions which, since they were launched in August and September 1977 to explore outer space, have been travelling at 38,000 miles an hour away from us powered by computers made 40 years ago. The smartphone in your pocket has 240,000 times more memory.
The computer on board Voyager 1 uses just 12 watts (or the same kind of power used by a light bulb in a fridge) to transmit its data back to base, taking 38 hours, from way beyond the reaches of Saturn, Uranus and even Neptune — and it’s been working continuously all those years.
Why, then, do our own household computers and phones have a shelf-life of only about five years?
because they don't cost $2 million dollars!!!!!!!!!!!
August 29, 2017, 04:24 PM
ChuckFinley
^
_________________________ NRA Endowment Member _________________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis
August 29, 2017, 04:54 PM
LS1 GTO
Because Voyager used Fortran, not DOS (ie: Windows or Apple).
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers
August 29, 2017, 09:01 PM
zoom6zoom
Yeah, no Windows on Voyager.
I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm.
August 29, 2017, 09:57 PM
46and2
I can put together an equally talented team and build you a computer with the same level of quality, extensive testing, and otherwise, but our day rate would be about $10,000 and it would take a couple of years or more. For roughly $500-2500 total we're spoiled it works this well.
Still sucks though.
August 30, 2017, 06:16 AM
V-Tail
quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO: Because Voyager used Fortran, not DOS (ie: Windows or Apple).
הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
August 30, 2017, 08:31 AM
smschulz
Not exactly a valid comparison but kinda get the jest.
August 30, 2017, 08:46 AM
Skins2881
quote:
Originally posted by 46and2: I can put together an equally talented team and build you a computer with the same level of quality, extensive testing, and otherwise, but our day rate would be about $10,000 and it would take a couple of years or more. For roughly $500-2500 total we're spoiled it works this well.
Still sucks though.
How much for the environmental impact study and certification of fair labor?
Jesse
Sic Semper Tyrannis
August 30, 2017, 01:39 PM
billr
quote:
Originally posted by ChuckFinley: Why, then, do our own household computers and phones have a shelf-life of only about five years?
Because you wouldn't pay millions of dollars for a CPU. The computers on Voyager 1 were all build to be hardened against things like solar radiation, and they cost a lot of money.
-- When you rest your steak and your whiskey upon the table you have made, you feel pretty goddamn tall for keeping those treats off the ground.
