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Ask Slashdot: What Tech Products Were Built To Last?
itwbennett writes: "When you think about tech products these days, you probably think 'refresh cycle' more than 'built to last.' But there are plenty of tech products that put up with hard, daily use year after year. Here's a few to get you started: Logitech MX510 mouse, Brother black & white laser printer, Casio G-Shock watch, Alvin Draf-Tec Retrac mechanical pencil, Sony Dream Machine alarm clock. What's your longest-lasting, hardest-working device?"
Still works as does my IBM PS2 Model 95. There are still DEC PDP-11s in daily use as well.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
It's gotten nothing but shit every day for 30 years and it still works just as well as when I first got it.
My Atari 800 home computer is my longest-lasting, hardest-working electronics device. It was built like a tank (the metal shielding alone weighs several pounds).
Other than that, I suppose my alarm clock. I've had it since 1988 and it just keeps going. Nothing fancy - LED display, just a clock with alarm, no radio functionality or anything like that.
I have had my MacBook Air running almost continuously for three years. Almost no hiccups. That's about it!
I still use my HP-11C and HP-32S calculators at least weekly. They're now 25+ years old, and I've changed the batteries maybe twice.
Enter > Equal ..... Yeah!
These things are awesome. The ones I've got were built in the mid 90s and still clicking.
TZ
It sits there in standby waiting for print jobs that almost never come, then with a wheeze the top fan blows out the accumulated dust, the lights dim briefly and I get my printout like it was 1999.
HP LaserJet II and LaserJet 3 - worked reliably for 20 years and probably quite a few of them still in use.
sPh
Admittedly as noted above no high-tech product can yet match the longevity of a well-built plumbing system - some of them are over 2000 years old and still functioning as designed, while most major cities still depend on water and plumbing infrastructure build 1880-1920.
The quality difference between pre 2001 electronics and now is astounding. Current products are all utter junk compared to earlier stuff.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
IBM's Model M keyboard.
A 1971 Panasonic AM/FM clock radio with this erie, blue-green glowing, segmented time display. It's the size of a goddamn shoe box, and easily weighs 3-4 pounds. It was my brother's, and when he moved out of the house he gave it to me. It's as old as I am and has survived multiple in-city, in-state, and one cross-country move, in addition to numerous drops, bumps, being rained on through open windows, splashed with various items spilled from ill-placed glasses, etc.
I haven't used it as an alarm or for music in years (my phone took over those functions some time ago), but I can't bear to remove it from my nightstand at this point.
What did the walrus say to the penguin? "No soap, radio."
I always like to point to one of my fave brands of TM gear (test and measurement): power designs.
go to ebay and search for these 3 words 'power designs precision'. see the metal concentric dials? those are not to be seen in today's gear; unless its a photo of one on a touch screen somewhere (sigh).
I have at least 4 of these models and they date from the late 50's to early 60's. some caps might need changing (not need but suggested) and some deoxit-d5 cleaner on the switches and that's that! 100uV dial-in resolution, microvolt level noise and hum, current load at full rated cap for 7x24 duty cycle and the PSU can be thrown off a truck and still work to factory specs.
they tend to be $100 or so, used. if you built that today using those specs, it would be 10x to 50x the price, if you could even GET it built today (no, china could not even build this if they tried).
old tektronix and HP gear still works great after 30+ yrs. lots of old US designed and BUILT gear is still fully reasonable to use today. its repairable and the user guides, back then, actually had circuit descriptions, schematics and even names/addresses of companies that make the parts that go into the box! you NEVER see anything like that today. you can't even get schematics from agilent or fluke or keithley or tek anymore, on their current gear.
I like to point to power designs (precision) line of gear as stuff that was built to last 50+ yrs and I have actual proof that this is not a dream. I'm over 50 and I'm not doing as well as some of the gear in my tech shop.... ;)
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
I have several Teletype machines from the 1926 to 1940 period. All are in good working order. They're completely repairable; it's possible to take one apart down to the individual parts and put it back together. But they're high-maintenance. There are several hundred oiling points on a Model 15 Teletype. There are things that have to be adjusted occasionally, and manuals and tools for doing that. Every few years, the entire machine has to be soaked in solvent to clean off excess oil, then relubricated and adjusted. This is the price of building a complex machine good for a century or more.
(The Model 33 of the minicomputer era is not one of the long-lived machines. This was by design. The Model 35 was the equivalent long-lived, high-maintenance product; the 33 required little mainenance but had a llimited life.)
Alarm Clock? Really?
I used to live across the street from police & fire stations. I can sleep through anything. A few years ago, searching for ever louder and more earth-shaking alarm clocks, I got to thinking about that. For tens of thousands of years mankind has not had alarm clocks. We relied on the Sun and Daylight to wake us up. So I went down to the local megamart and bought a digital outlet timer. You know, the sort of thing you use to turn your lights on automatically while you're out of town. Hooked up a power strip to it, and plugged in a bunch of $5 floor lamps. Nothing like a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Lamps.
Every morning at exactly 6:55 the digital timer turns on and my room is brightened by 5,000+ lumens of light. It's a nice way to wake up. Very gentle. You come out of sleep slowly rather than abruptly.
Still works like a charm (and still a bit slow, hehehe).
XP on my ThinkPad that was made before IBM sold the division to Lenovo. The machine will be 10 in August. The battery died a few years ago, otherwise the only problem is with the left mouse button which is cracked from use and held with tape. The machine chugs along in some punishing environments--no AC here, and it flakes out sometimes on hot days. I probably need to open it up and blow the dust out. Yes, I'm concerned about such an old hard drive, and back up in various ways.
About $1500, and worth every penny.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Thanks for posting this. I had a 15C which I gave to a friend when I got a 28S. The 28S is still on my desk and still works brilliantly. Both calculators are my favourites. The 28S takes "N" batteries which were for "cameras" when cameras still had film in them. So they are getting a little harder to find. It takes a few years for them to die, but I'm starting to stockpile them anyway.
I'm guessing the button cells for the 15C are a little easier to find.
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
My Compaq P1210 catwarmer only died a few months ago, after daily use since early 1998. When the cat went to jump on top of the new LCD and simply landed on the desk behind, he was not amused. I put a pillow back there, and now it's his secret hiding place; he leans up against the back of the LCD for his catwarming needs. (This is Canada; as I write, a nasty mix of snow and rain is blustering around outside.)
I would say that my old HP48SX calculator with a card for additional functions still works and is useful. Engineering calculations are engineering calculations, and the tactile feel of the buttons is a lot more accurate than trying to use an emulator on a smartphone.
Just the small engineering touches showed outstanding build quality. For example, the card had an edge connector, but there was a sliding metal flap that kept the connector on a card shielded until it was inserted into the calculator.
It's called Egarland's law. Funny that you've never heard of it...
Perl Programmer for hire
Roughly 40 years old and still doing science.
Simpson 260 Series 8 Analog VOM. Built like a fricking tank. Simple, beautiful and reliable. Reads when a DMM wont. Will probably outlast the guy that buys it from a garage sale after I'm gone. :)
Brave Sir Robin ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!")
Genuine old land line telephones built by Western Electric for the Bell System. They built them, they owned them, and they NEVER wanted to have to repair them.
Late 80s, upgraded to SCSI and 16 MB @ 200ns, run OpenVMS 7.3.
Also, my penis, late 50s, works just fine, does everything I want it to.
As another commenter mentioned, old test equipment -- the design of the Bird 43 wattmeter hasn't changed in over 50 years (and mine is over 30 years old). Similar story with the Simpson 240 series of multimeters (VOMs). I inherited a set of Starrett micrometers that are wonderful, even the ones my son used as C-clamps as he was growing up...
I also have a stack of old HP and Tektronix test equipment -- stuff that has service manuals and more-or-less replaceable parts (except for things like 'scope front ends, which are custom assemblies made of pure unobtanium).
I used to go through one about every six months. Their cords were shit, and would break over time.
I replaced my 8th and last MX510 with a RAZR Imperator about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back since.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
My old Nokia candybar phone (c. 2000) is practically indestructible. To this day I can still charge it up and play "nibbles" in all its LCD monochrome glory. Too bad the cell towers don't support its signal anymore...
What else can happen when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?
I was going to say the IBM Thinkpads, too. Like any computer, they eventually get old and underpowered compared to the new stuff, but they keep chugging. Mine is from 05, I think right after Lenovo bought 'em, but it's still the IBM version. One key is missing, case is cracked and there are a few grey pixels, but it still works (typing this on it now). Made it through deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, too.
Is that "long lasting" or is it sad that 9-10 years out of a laptop is considered long?
Somewhat related: the youngest flying B52:s are now more than half a century old. By the time the last one is taken out of service it will probably be pushing 90.
I have a 1990 Saab 9000, with all the original parts. It is close to hitting the 400,000 kilometer mark. The "onboard computer", as it is grandly called ( basically a piece of electronics computing instantaneous and average fuel consumption, as well as capable of predicting ETA based on a rolling speed average ) still works perferctly. Just like the Bosch cassette player. And the engine.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
...were built to last but more as objet d'art when the 'functioning' element stops working after, well, 10 minutes or so.