Get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? [Was: Re:Notes on repairing the Apple Lisa power supply]

From: Mark Gregory <mgregory_at_vantageresearch.com>
Date: Thu May 25 18:27:11 2000

-----Original Message-----
From: R. D. Davis <rdd_at_smart.net>
To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2000 4:57 PM
Subject: Re: Get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? [Was:
Re:Notes on repairing the Apple Lisa power supply]


<snip>
>
>Not always. E.g., a device like a PSU that was working, and is then
>moved, can have a bit of metal, solder, etc. come lose and short
>something out.
>


I'll concede this point if you're moving it across the country, where
careless shippers can bang it around and jar something loose. But when
moving it across the room from one system to another, I'd say the chances
of a catastrophic failure are small.

>Yes, right... fry that system and then sell it on e-bay, that's ok,
>because it will still bring a high price, so who cares whether it
>works, right? Turn the monitors into fishbowls, remove core memory
>and sell it in a picture frame, because, who cares if these are used
>again since they can bring big bucks on e-bay.
>


You're missing the points I was trying to make.

Firstly, Lisas are relatively common; thousands were built and thousands
survive. It's not like we were talking about, say, an Apple I, where only
600-odd were made, and only a couple of hundred survive. The stakes in
using slightly risky trouble-shooting techniques to fix a Lisa are low.

Secondly, I care a lot about whether old computers work. Most of the 60+
systems in my collection work, and I'm always trying to find parts and
information to fix the ones that don't. But I accept the reality that
sometimes old computers die, and get used as donors to fix others. And I
was trying to point out that since Lisa's fetch very high prices these
days, Joe could even recover some of his investment even in the worst case
scenario.

The idea of accidentally blowing up a Lisa seems to bother you a lot. If
you want to save every single remaining classic computer that exists,
you're going to need a bigger apartment / house / warehouse / city to live
in, because you're going to need a _lot_ of room.

Finally, I think you need to remember that if you've never met someone, and
know nothing about them, it's rude to make assumptions about or disparage
their intelligence, character, or attitudes. Even in e-mail.

And that's my final word on the matter

Mark.
Received on Thu May 25 2000 - 18:27:11 BST