Re: Building a rackmount looping computer as an alternative to theReceptor for Mobius

[Jeff Larson <Jeffrey.Larson@Sun.COM>]

Gee, I sense that just maybe you're a fan of dedicated hardware? :-)

Travis Hartnett wrote:
 > Nah--hard drives aren't designed to last more than a few years, the
 > motherboard and power supply batteries likewise.

Hard drive, debatable.  Motherboard, nonsense.  Batteries, yes.
Power cord, no.

 > A PCM-42 holds its value far better than any laptop running a PCM-42
 > emulator.

Until it breaks.  That emulator will run fine for the next hundred
years on increasingly powerful hardware.

 > "...runs Windows 95 as well as the day it was born."
 >
 > Left-handed praise if I ever heard it...

My point here was that most people dispose of their computers not
because they stop working, but because they can't run the latest
software.  Salesmen cart a laptop to "gigs" almost every day for
years.  They get rid of them because they can't run PowerPoint 2010.
If you're willing to freeze your expectations, there's no reason except
hardware failure why you can't use a computer for more than 10 years.
Sure they break, they depreciate in monetary value.  But they do not
depreciate in function.

But I completely agree that laptops are not as roadworthy over the
long run as dedicated hardware without disk drives.   If I were a
gigging musician I would be worried about them.  And I agree that
computers are disposable.  In some respects that's an advantage
because you can always move your stuff to a newer more powerful model.

Jeff