[pics] The reliablility of today's electronics

[computer_expert]

http://i.imgur.com/leJgy.png

[Michael]

I still have a NES lying around too It's still in its box. I wrote about the XBOX here

[powdarrmonkey]

It's so true.

[localzuk]

That's kinda like pointing to a horse, and comparing it to a Alfa Romeo... Comparing apples and oranges.

[webman]

In order to do things a) quicker and b) cheaper; it seems manufacturers are using cheaper and inferior components and off-the-shelf stuff. Lots of things now are implemented using re-usable generic firmware and software.

 

Contrast this to years ago when just about everything was done in-house. Manufacturers would know things inside-out, and would test, test and test again their own implementations. By doing the above, it seems that they think they can be lazy and cut a few corners.

[srochford]

In order to do things a) quicker and b) cheaper; it seems manufacturers are using cheaper and inferior components and off-the-shelf stuff. Lots of things now are implemented using re-usable generic firmware and software.

 

Those cost savings are typically passed on to consumers, though. Not sure how much the NES cost when it was launched compared to an XBox but I have a feeling that it was much more expensive (allowing for inflation in the past 20 odd years)

 

The savings are definitely there in most areas of electronics - look at the price of a TV today compared to 25 years ago - and these are partly because we're using cheaper components etc and we're not going for quality.

 

You only have to look at just about any advertising - much of it stresses the low price; little of it stresses the high quality and matching high price!

[localzuk]

The NES was launched at $199 which would be $391 in today's money. The Xbox 360 launched at $399.

 

The key issue is the complexity of modern technology. There is a hell of a lot more that can go wrong with an Xbox 360 than there was with a NES. NES's didn't pump out the massive amount of heat that Xbox 360s do, as their processors which much much slower...q

[torledo]

Those cost savings are typically passed on to consumers, though. Not sure how much the NES cost when it was launched compared to an XBox but I have a feeling that it was much more expensive (allowing for inflation in the past 20 odd years)

 

The savings are definitely there in most areas of electronics - look at the price of a TV today compared to 25 years ago - and these are partly because we're using cheaper components etc and we're not going for quality.

 

You only have to look at just about any advertising - much of it stresses the low price; little of it stresses the high quality and matching high price!

 

25 years ago, the cost of new TV's would not be far off todays equivalent products at 2009 prices.

So don't agree with the 'much more expensive' claim, as far as color TV's are concerned anyway.

[Batman]

That's kinda like pointing to a horse, and comparing it to a Alfa Romeo... Comparing apples and oranges.

 

It's not really though. Alfa Romeos break and need regular maintenance. Horses need attention, food, water etc and eventually they die. The point is that the NES is still working so to make an equivalent comparison you have to pick something that hardly ever breaks - something you wouldn't expect to break except for in extreme circumstances. Also the thing that doesn't break has to be quite old.

 

So... maybe it's more like comparing a G3 iBook with an old IBM Thinkpad? That's a bit weak to, to be honest, but certainly neither of them are anything like Apples, Oranges or Horses and I don't think there's much of a comparison with the Alfa tbh. Try again :troll:

[tech_guy]

The Xbox is a brilliant, but flawed, machine. Mine had the RRD at the end of last year and it was only 18 months old. I know so many people personally that have had to send their console on the little holiday over to Germany. All I can say is that I'm glad it's just a gaming console we're discussing here and that Microsoft don't build aeroplanes....

[Batman]

Yes... I did hear that if Microsoft made a vacuum cleaner it would be their first product that didn't suck...