Re: Old computers still in use
Yes industrial gear can pull it off, most of the businesses in Australia are quiet small. They do not have a lot of money and they do not make extravagant amounts of cash from sales. These companies can not afford to buy new machines very often if at all. They rely on machines that are over 10 years old (and obviously use hardware that is from that era). It is not uncommon that machines that are 20 years old or more are still in service.
Not only that, a lot of the industrial PC gear has been specifically made proprietary, even thou many are made from standard PC components. Particularly the software and possibly the OS itself has been programmed in such a way so that if there are any changes in the hardware, nothing will work properly if at all. If something fails, it needs an exact replacement, possibly down to the firmware level. Other machines may not be as picky. However they need a particular legacy add-in card to work properly for the machine to operate (hence motherboards with ISA slots are quiet handy to have at times).
I think this is how kc8adu makes business repairing industrial equipment. Where are you going to fins a specific motherboard that is 10-15 years old? It is very difficult, chances are someone has a few stored away somewhere. However since they know that you need a particular part for a specific purpose and you need it ASAP and you can't exactly go next door (to a competitor) and get one. They flog em for incredible prices because that is how much they are worth to the company. What is better, buying a $500 motherboard that is 15 years old, or paying $100,000 for a machine retrofit (Cost obviously depends upon complexity of machine and amount of work to be done. It may be more worthwhile than constantly fixing up a shitty machine that has fundamental limitations with the electronics and software), or paying millions for a brand new machine?
Yes industrial gear can pull it off, most of the businesses in Australia are quiet small. They do not have a lot of money and they do not make extravagant amounts of cash from sales. These companies can not afford to buy new machines very often if at all. They rely on machines that are over 10 years old (and obviously use hardware that is from that era). It is not uncommon that machines that are 20 years old or more are still in service.
Not only that, a lot of the industrial PC gear has been specifically made proprietary, even thou many are made from standard PC components. Particularly the software and possibly the OS itself has been programmed in such a way so that if there are any changes in the hardware, nothing will work properly if at all. If something fails, it needs an exact replacement, possibly down to the firmware level. Other machines may not be as picky. However they need a particular legacy add-in card to work properly for the machine to operate (hence motherboards with ISA slots are quiet handy to have at times).
I think this is how kc8adu makes business repairing industrial equipment. Where are you going to fins a specific motherboard that is 10-15 years old? It is very difficult, chances are someone has a few stored away somewhere. However since they know that you need a particular part for a specific purpose and you need it ASAP and you can't exactly go next door (to a competitor) and get one. They flog em for incredible prices because that is how much they are worth to the company. What is better, buying a $500 motherboard that is 15 years old, or paying $100,000 for a machine retrofit (Cost obviously depends upon complexity of machine and amount of work to be done. It may be more worthwhile than constantly fixing up a shitty machine that has fundamental limitations with the electronics and software), or paying millions for a brand new machine?
<----Computer says I need more beer.
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