@tinyrabbit They don’t build stuff like that anymore.
The Computer Command System (CCS), the central controller of the Voyager spacecraft, has two 18-bit word, interrupt-type processors with 4096 words each of non-volatile plated-wire memory and almost 70k of RAM.
Folks learned to write efficient code…in assembler.
Like we stopped using steam engine etc. Because technologies evolved ?
It's a marvel of ingeniosity of it's time, created for a specific purpose so it's indeed a state of the art device but a niche one. Sundial build by the roman empire are still around, do we walk with little obelisk mounted wrisband ?
@shalien@tinyrabbit Actually,a steam engine is a very adaptable piece of engineering. All you need is a heat source to boil water and make steam. Doesn’t matter if you use coal, oil, wood, sawdust, sugar cane or something else that burns. Sure different fuels produce more heat but in a crisis, it’s very adaptable.
@bouriquet@tinyrabbit My point was indeed that old tech can be still used today WHILE we now /remember how to maintain and use them even with the tech evolution .
@GhostOnTheHalfShell I guess it says a lot of things, really. First of all that commercial hardware is a lot cheaper. But also that repairability is often bad and software outgrows the hardware quickly. And commercial products don’t have the capability to route around a broken memory — which to be fair I wouldn’t expect either. It amazes me that Voyager I is 46 y/o and still vapable of doing what it was designed for. A five y/o smartphone can have trouble opening some homepages
@tinyrabbit Not to take anything away from NASA/JPL--they do amazing work--but a big part is economic, not technical.
Quality code takes more time, increasing price. It's easy for a customer to see features but harder to see quality (at least till after they've made the purchase), so people tend to buy on price and features, not quality.
Repeat transactions (leases or X-as-a-service) might make quality more prominent. Or don't let the EULA disclaim consequential harm. But expect higher prices.
when your device is 15 billion miles away there is no genius store to trade it in or get help, no planned obsolescence.
i learned more about caring for aging hardware by working alongside JPL engineers than I did in a lifetime of Early Adoption. It's why I still run an old Pebble smartwatch and teardown my phones and laptops to keep em running year after year.
@mansr I think there just might be a compromise somewhere in between where it's cheaper than a space probe but more durable and fixable than an iphone 😉
@tinyrabbit The voyager program is more impressive than all of Elon's accomplishments combined. It's nothing short of amazing that they're still functioning, and capable of receiving and responding to commands.
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