3 ms·
The Z80 and most of the 47xx logic chips are still manufactured, though. (Small RAM and ROM chips may become a problem, in the near future.)
by masswerk 3y ago
The Z80 and most of the 47xx logic chips are still manufactured, though. (Small RAM and ROM chips may become a problem, in the near future.)
- fennecfoxy 3y agoBut then even if you have a small time electrical repair peep come in and pop a chip from a socket and drop in a replacement, what do you do if it still doesn't work anymore? In that scenario you need to find someone completely familiar with the old model of computer to break out the multimeter and oscilloscope. That's gonna be a huge pain. And in the meantime none of their stuff works, though I suppose they can rest on the existing library of punch cards they most certainly have. Or do it manually again.
- masswerk 3y agoEven in the worst of cases, these were popular machines and you can buy one at ebay.jp about anytime. It probably becomes much more of a problem with hardware closer in time. E.g., it's a 486 machine, the network is probably ARCNET, because industrial, where do you get any hardware that fits in? (Contrary to its 486 siblings, the 8-bit machines are still around, because they were cultural significant, and there are folks playing around with them and preserving the knowledge of keeping them running. Finding the maintenance manual for a late 1970s machine is easy as compared to finding one for a, let's say, 2001 run-off-the-mill computer.) Also, you'll be re-entering any data there is, things will probably get lost, because the project stalls. Meanwhile, while you are re-planning, selecting the new hardware, comissioning an external team to furnish the new software, eventually test it and roll it out, any production connected to this is on halt…