4 ms·

Indeed. You cannot release a patch for a mechanical part or a PCB.

• zmgsabst 2y ago
  You can and people do. It’s just a lot more expensive and labor intensive to apply.
• moregrist 2y ago
  For a PCB it’s called a rework, and it’s very common for first spins of boards to have to do one. Also common is to patch around issues, when possible, in firmware. This is often lower cost/effort, but can’t fix everything. There are similar kinds of fixes for purely mechanical parts. Depending on the part and problem, mechanical can be easier than a PCB rework (eg: modify a part in CAD and 3D print or get your local machine shop to do a run).
  • TheSpiceIsLife 2y ago
    Or require a particular type of motor oil with a particular type of metal-based lubricant additive when you realise 100,000 cam shafts have shipped made of metal you’d assumed was to a higher spec but isn’t, just so the engine will make it through warranty period with insanely long service intervals. I briefly looked at a couple used vehicles just outside of warranty and one within warranty that had literally had two oil changers in 100,000k, that’s 60,000 miles for the uninitiated.
• kjkjadksj 2y ago
  You just release a new version. How many xbox 360s did they actually release? I think its close to a dozen iterations.
• throwaway2037 2y ago
  > You cannot release a patch for a mechanical part In NATO, this is frequent and normal. Many, many "recalls" are issued by military manfacturers, then local support staff spend X hours to replace the defective part. It is not so different from automobile recalls.
  • raverbashing 2y ago
    Correct. Also the economics of a mechanical patch are favourable for something in the M$ range with a fix costing in the 10k$ to 100k$ range