The very first programming job I had out of college was working on a DEC PDP-8 (not an 8-I or and 8-E, a plain 8), and I remember one time when it failed. I ran

The very first programming job I had out of college was working on a DEC PDP-8 (not an 8-I or and 8-E, a plain 8), and I remember one time when it failed. I ran a diagnostic program (from paper tape) and the result indicated a hardware failure. We had a service contract, so we called DEC and they sent out a service person. He re-ran the diagnostic and confirmed the fault. I expected him to swap out the failed board, but no. He pulled the board out of the chassis, un-soldered a transister, and soldered in a new one. I can remember to this day, my amazement that he could repair a computer like that.