Whats wrong with chip collecting?

From: R. D. Davis <rdd_at_rddavis.org>
Date: Mon Nov 18 20:48:00 2002

Quothe Tony Duell, from writings of Mon, Nov 18, 2002 at 12:27:58AM +0000:
> But it's hard (I won't say impossible [1]) to make even the simplest chip
> at home.
>
> [1] 'Somebody these days claiming something is impossible is apt to be
> interrupted by some fool doing it'.

Not too long ago I read where someone wrote that it's impossible to
manufacture thermonic valves without a large amount of very expensive
equipment, which is no longer manufactured. Now, I've seen where some
people are experimenting with, and having some success with, making
valves/tubes at home.

> This is analagous, I guess, to why many of the hardware hackers here
> collect chips (it's certainly why I 'collect' chips) -- to use them to
> repair vintage hardware. Not to use them to make money.

In that respect, I do collect chips. :-) ...no idea what any are
worth, how rare most are or arent, and don't care much about their
cosmetic appearance, rarity, monetary value, etc. To me, such a chip
"collection" is not a collection, but "inventory" for future hacking
or repairs. I'm not going to destroy a PERQ or PDP-11 to get a rare
chip to add to my inventory; of course, if one of my PERQs, PDP-11s,
etc. needed a certain hard-to-find, or nearly impossible to find, chip
that was in a lesser machine that I wasn't interested in (e.g., an
Altair, PeeCee, etc.), I wouldn't hesitate to carefully remove such a
chip from that less-than-interesting-to-me machine in order to keep a
PERQ, PDP-11, etc. alive.

-- 
Copyright (C) 2002 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: 
All Rights Reserved            an unnatural belief that we're above Nature & 
rdd_at_rddavis.org  410-744-4900  her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.org         beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
Received on Mon Nov 18 2002 - 20:48:00 GMT

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