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https://ploum.net/the-computer-built-to-last-50-years/index.html https://ploum.net/the-computer-built-to-last-50-years/index....
by initramfs 2y ago
https://ploum.net/the-computer-built-to-last-50-years/index.html https://ploum.net/the-computer-built-to-last-50-years/index....
- sevensor 2y agoThat was a good read, thanks for posting! I suspect in 50 years it will become much clearer what the 50 year computer is. The leading edge still moves at a blistering rate, but computing devices are so widespread now that eddies full of slower moving technology are inevitable. I’m not sure the 50 year computer will happen on purpose, either. Just as likely, a community forms around some gadget that was made for another purpose, and in its afterlife it turns out to have been unusually well designed. Consider the surviving typewriters. Typewriters used to break down all the time. We had typewriter repairmen. The typewriters that remain were lucky: well designed, well maintained, well kept. A lot of bad typewriters are rusting in landfills.
- initramfs 2y agoI think a properly modular system, similar to the ATX computer case, would be a practical 50 year computer, even if no single part lasts that long. The ATX motherboard form factor was developed in 1995 by Intel. Today motherboards are still made by AMD and Intel that meet that size. Previous attempts to make a modular cell phone by Google's Project Ara ended in 2017. https://hackaday.io/project/177716-the-femtotx-motherboard-standard https://hackaday.io/project/177716-the-femtotx-motherboard-s... If a system reuses even 10%, that still reduces the waste that goes into manufacturing a new replacement, such as a system fan or chassis.