Agnes by Tony Cochran for December 05, 2015

Wait, I know how electronics work. It’s all made of smoke.How do I know? Well have you ever seen an electronic device work after you let the smoke out?

Wow, x_Tech…. you’re right!One day back in the 90’s, I heard a crackling noise from my computer… and all the smoke in it suddenly escaped.

It never worked again!

I had an old, primitive computer (TRS-80) survive a lighting strike once. The lightning took out a few lights. jumped a (tuned off) surge protector, and took out a modem. But the computer survived fine. Wonder whether current equipment can do that. I haven’t had lightning that close since.

Any technology, sufficiently advanced, is Indistinguishable from magic.

Sure glad you all explained that. Now I don’t have to Google it.

Hhmmm…I wonder if you remember those great little kiosks of vacuum tubes that used to be in grocery stores and hardware stores for replace smoked-out TV tubes?? A treasure trove of mystery to my young self.

when i was in college all the EEs disappeared for a semester. turns out they all went into this secret room and learned how to propitiate the god of electricity.

Um…. Senex… yeah, I know….I’ve had computers made from components… even built one.

But that particular 386 just fried. The motherboard and chip were both partially burnt up or melted…solder had pooled.Not too recoverable!

Still… I wasn’t quite old enough (or rich enough!) to have owned a computer when they had banks of vacuum tubes.LOL

But what’s old sometimes becomes new again…. I’ve heard there are now experiments with vacuum transistors.

DogDay…. duanemorgan’s post is a quote. It’s Arthur Clarke’s 3rd Law….

@SusanMy uncle had two that used vacuum tubes. One at school where taught and one in his back yard – no way would fit in his house. Both were Burroughs 205s.

X … wow.

Resistance is not futile. It’s voltage divided by current.

I thought they lived in a trailer? That looks like a kitchen in a house?