<div dir="ltr"><div>You are very right about new cars and stupidly set up computer systems. For a while some models required the radio head unit. Oh, you could put a new unit in the dashboard but the factory unit still had to be plugged in somewhere. A lot of new cars have the dashboards built so that you just can't replace them at all.</div><div><br></div><div>--Brian<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 1:26 PM Steve Litt via Ale <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">And when the user's stuff breaks, as complex stuff always does, he or<br>
she begins the desperate search for somebody with the knowledge to fix<br>
the entangled monolith. Meanwhile, the Geek uses something simple and<br>
easy to fix.<br>
<br>
I've owned and driven cars with carburetors and points. Recent models<br>
reasonably cared for "just worked". For the person not willing to gap<br>
plugs or adjust timing, professional help was fairly inexpensive. <br>
<br>
I'll admit that in today's era of 32 to 60 MPG, computers are a must for<br>
gas mileage and minimal pollution. But they're misused: Almost every<br>
system goes through computers. I remember my father in law's computer<br>
equipped van's alarm went off at nights. I figured "heck, I'll just cut<br>
the power to the alarm". Ummm, no, a microprocessor decided when the<br>
alarm system needed to blare the horn. And don't get me started on speed<br>
sensitive steering and suspension. What could *possibly* go wrong?<br>
<br>
SteveT<br>
-- <br>
Steve Litt <br>
Spring 2021 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful<br>
Technologist <a href="http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques</a><br>
<br>
Dow Hurst via Ale said on Wed, 21 Jul 2021 17:31:17 -0400<br>
<br>
>Solomon,<br>
>You have defined the essential difference between a geek and a user.<br>
>Dow<br>
><br>
>On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 9:21 AM Solomon Peachy via Ale <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org" target="_blank">ale@ale.org</a>><br>
>wrote:<br>
><br>
>> On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 08:52:51AM -0400, Jerald Sheets via Ale<br>
>> wrote: <br>
>> > What exactly is happening to the discipline, and how can we “do<br>
>> > better” as a discipline? <br>
>><br>
>> The "solution" is make things crappier. Seriously.<br>
>><br>
>> You know as much as you do because you spent decades working on/with<br>
>> stuff that would break if you looked at it sideways, and that's after<br>
>> sacrificing untold quantities guatamelan poultry to get it going to<br>
>> begin with.<br>
>><br>
>> Today, thanks in part to the efforts of folks like you and I, the<br>
>> base stuff generally JustWorks(tm)... so KidsTheseDays(tm) spend<br>
>> their time working on (and thus, building expertise on) other things.<br>
>><br>
>> ObAnalogy: Do you miss carburated cars? Having to check and adjust<br>
>> ignition points? Hard starts in particularly hot, cold, humid,<br>
>> and/or dry days? A pinhole leak in half a mile of vacuum hoses<br>
>> causning stumbling under load, the inability to hold idle, or simply<br>
>> not being able to start at all?<br>
>><br>
>> Or do you prefer to get in the car, turn the key, and expect it to<br>
>> JustWork(tm) every time, regardless of environmental condtitions or<br>
>> where you live, so you can spend your time and energy on something<br>
>> you actually care about?<br>
>><br>
>> - Solomon<br>
>> --<br>
>> Solomon Peachy pizza at shaftnet dot org<br>
>> (email&xmpp)<br>
>> @pizza:shaftnet dot org<br>
>> (matrix) High Springs, FL speachy (freenode)<br>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." -Albert Einstein<br><br></div>