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PCs are one of the few things we build ourselves because it's one of the few goods that have standardized and commoditized parts. If there was a large degree o

PCs are one of the few things we build ourselves because it's one of the few goods that have standardized and commoditized parts. If there was a large degree of interchangeability between engines, transmissions, bodies, dashboards (etc) the auto enthusiast community would for sure be building cars from scratch out of parts. But realistically the pieces are tightly coupled and you can't pick and chose. It's the same with coffee machines - if there were interchangable pumps and boilers and group heads etc, I bet building your own coffee machine would be the norm in a certain crowed. And to be clear there's good technical, aesthetic, regulatory and business why most large machine's are made of interchangeable parts. I'm not saying car and espresso machine manufacturers have done something nefarious. Just that PCs happen to be free of a major constraint.

ManuelKiessling 10mo ago
I really wonder why the PC is a different story. What is it that makes it special in this regard?
- recursivecaveat 10mo ago
  I think this is because it's one of the few things commonly owned which is expensive enough to customize, but not pressed for space/weight savings. The inside of my PC tower is like 80%+ empty space, totally different than under the hood of a car. No space in there to make it easy to drop in a totally different engine with just a few hookups.
  - tkfoss 10mo ago
    > No space in there to make it easy to drop in a totally different engine with just a few hookups. It's not about the space, but rather standards and engineering. Old flip phone was as busy around the battery as is modern smartphone. It's hard to change a dying battery if its glued in behind a solid case, no matter the device.
    - fogj094j0923j4 10mo ago
      It is about space, laptops don't really have the same luxury as PC. Currently the trendy ultra small PC cases are going in the same direction with tightly coupled components, not in the connector spec, but dimensional fits.
      - tkfoss 10mo ago
        > It is about space, laptops don't really have the same luxury as PC. Whats the difference, really? If your laptop CPU and RAM are socketed you can replace/upgrade. If mobos and peripherals were standardized you'd see macs with thinkpad keyboards, and thinkpads with mac internals.
deleted 10mo ago
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ManuelKiessling 10mo ago

I really wonder why the PC is a different story. What is it that makes it special in this regard?

recursivecaveat 10mo ago
I think this is because it's one of the few things commonly owned which is expensive enough to customize, but not pressed for space/weight savings. The inside of my PC tower is like 80%+ empty space, totally different than under the hood of a car. No space in there to make it easy to drop in a totally different engine with just a few hookups.
- tkfoss 10mo ago
  > No space in there to make it easy to drop in a totally different engine with just a few hookups. It's not about the space, but rather standards and engineering. Old flip phone was as busy around the battery as is modern smartphone. It's hard to change a dying battery if its glued in behind a solid case, no matter the device.
  - fogj094j0923j4 10mo ago
    It is about space, laptops don't really have the same luxury as PC. Currently the trendy ultra small PC cases are going in the same direction with tightly coupled components, not in the connector spec, but dimensional fits.
    - tkfoss 10mo ago
      > It is about space, laptops don't really have the same luxury as PC. Whats the difference, really? If your laptop CPU and RAM are socketed you can replace/upgrade. If mobos and peripherals were standardized you'd see macs with thinkpad keyboards, and thinkpads with mac internals.

deleted 10mo ago

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