fellowleo

April 25, 2011 at 6:25pm

 

Gordon, some research for you regarding tornados, airports and restrooms.

http://youtu.be/EGtumnBej2Q

http://youtu.be/ZGwgjl3bDXo

 

Eagle70ss

April 21, 2011 at 7:53pm

 

There is no reason why the Xbox 360 should've had such a short life. Of course the XBOX generated more heat, but XBOX engineers had far greater technology to work with like smaller,faster chips and advances in material science should have won the day. The Atari 2600 was built on ancient technology. My Playstion (gen 1 & 2) work just fine and they both have been used heavily.

Compare this to the Automotive example. A 1970 El Camino had very little(if any) electronics on board. A 2010 Chevy Silverado has a plethora of sensors/switches/modules, etc. Like O2 sensors, knock sensor, mass airflow sensor, vehicle speed sensor, ABS sensor(plus about 30 more).  All transmissions on a modern car are electronic while the one on the El Camino had ZERO electronics built-in.Virtually everything on the modern car is contolled by sensor/module/switch. Thus more parts ≠ lower durability. A modern car is far, far more durable than a 70's car even with much heat generated. Are automotive engineers just superior? You be the judge. 

IN addition, your XBOX is just sitting around in your living room in a climate controlled environment. Your car is out in the elements for most of its life. Rain,sleet,snow, heat is pounding on the car. Put your XBOX on a cart and push it around the neighborhood in a rainstorm and see what happens.The original XBOX was simply a complete failure, period.  

 

FYI: There are still plenty of "shadetree mechanics" out there still. Some people want to cheap out and call a grease monkey instead of paying for a true automotive technician. They end up spending more money on parts they don't even need due to guessing. I work in automotive and I see this daily. 

 

Belboz99

April 19, 2011 at 11:43am

Just a few notes on the Xbox Longevity debate...

Smaller process transistors are more prone to failure, not just by heat, but also by EMI, even a bad solar flare can kill a transistor or two in a processor with the current process sizes.  Larger process transistors were indeed more durable, less prone to EMI and heat, plus they did generate less heat as they were less dense and fewer transistors total.

The American automotive industry was built around the idea of the limited lifespan vehicle up until the Japanese started competing in the 1980's.  Japan was interested in competing in the American automotive market, and when they realized they couldn't build enough service centers to keep them maintained, they read up on Amercian literature on quality manufacturing principals, which had been written since the 1930's, and hired numerous specialists in the field of quality and using ideas such as "Just-in-time" manufacturing, waste reduction methods, etc.

The other issue the American automobile had up until the 1980's was the lead in the gasoline that wore at numerous parts.  The lead was required because the tolerances in the engine weren't tight enough to keep the piston / etc from wearing even with adeuate oil lubrication.

The argument that the XBox 360 dies too prematurely is a valid one none-the-less however, who here has a properly cooled processor, running on an even smaller process size, with more cores, overclocked, and has not had it fail in the times we're seeing XBox 360's fail?  ***Raises Hand***

Peace,
Dan O. 

Engelsstaub

April 18, 2011 at 10:50pm

HOLY SH*T, Nathan--you said Lightpeak again!

Knew you'd come around. As soon as PCs get it we can all admit it's pretty revolutionary again ;)