Chris snipped-for-privacy@live.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Metallic form Pb is NOT a problem. Compounds of lead are. RoHS was / is a scam as it relates to lead solder.
Want proof? The water table tests in proximity to ALL outdoor gun ranges show no higher lead level than the water table 200 miles from one does.
On Thursday, 25 March 2021 at 12:21:09 UTC-7, Tom Gardner wrote: ...
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Sounds like the Elliott 803 that I learnt to program with Algol 60 at Bangor.
Serial 39-bit, ~150kHz clock. 8kW of memory.
All of about 0.002 MIPS.
Lots of rewinding 5-hole paper tapes for the compiler and the run-time library.
kw
The opposite, here. Development costs are considered "free" (one firm actually went so far as to STATE that! "Last product pays for the development of the next product").
In a sense, this is a bit easier to manage -- you can look up the cost of a component whereas you can only *estimate* the cost of a development effort.
I now find everyday uses that make my life considerably easier. E.g., having all of my files (on ~200 drives) enumerated in one database saves me a sh*tload of time chasing down a particular file/project/document. And, frees me from having to artificially impose structure on those drives ("This drive will hold my music collection; this drive will hold projects A, B and C; this drive will hold databooks/datasheets; etc.)
In your case, the effect isn't as profound. In *my* case, it makes entirely different design approaches "affordable". E.g., I no longer have to write 24-bit floating point libraries (to economize on the costs of a 32 bit implementation), etc.
[it's another aspect of your "no more sets/bags"; it gets tiring having to reimplement the same old functionality with a new set of manufacturing constraints]In my case, the PSU is in the switch. Which makes things like battery-backing the entire system (spread out over thousands of square feet) trivial.
OTOH, it imposes limits on how much TOTAL power you can use in a particular device -- cuz it ALL has to be delivered over the wire.
Spot on :) I still have the pocket handbook, and probably an audio tape of it clucking like a broody hen while "fetching Algol".
I used one at the Ewell Tech (near my school) in the lower sixth. I almost went to Bangor to do EE, but opted for Southampton.
If you get the chance to go to TNMoC /next/ to Bletchley Park, you can see one operating and discuss the schematics with the staff. That's my kind of museum :)
Talking of old stuff, Alan Sugar ( AMSTRAD) is looking to set up an AAMSTRAD museum and is looking for anyone with his products to donate....
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