Digital BW, The Print

The first transistors made by Texas Instrument were said to be
eternal, much like some claimed for the best electronic tubes. But
efficient Japanese production made them infinitely cheaper (for the
first "transistor radios")... accepting a real-world failure rate.

Because of the "acceptability" of a predicted-by-manufacturer failure
rate you won't get "forever", even if most keep on tickin'. It's a gamble.

Our Motorola and Intel chips all have predicted/known failure rates. 

There's no inherent reason small mechanical devices, such as HDs,
should not last for centuries. And when they fail, hopefully the ones
that are worthwhile have been backed up :-)


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Seth"
<seth@m...> wrote:
> Since they are neither mechanical nor magnetic, they should last
forever.