This is so important as we move forward with tech, but we can't forget to look back, too.
As an enthusiast of vintage tech who enjoys repairing them when I can, it is getting harder and harder to find original or compatible parts in a lot of cases, simply because the company that made them 30-40 years ago no longer exists (or, sometimes, still exists but operates in an entirely different capacity).
A recent example I encountered of adversarial interoperability was having to order a product from Glitch Works on Tindie.com. They make a modern-hardware replacement for an outdated Dallas DSXXXX security chip that was put in some old bar-top video game machines, something I enjoy fixing now and then. For those below a certain age, these big CRT video game machines sat on the counter in bars, patrons feeding in dollars to play video poker or slots using a handful of physical buttons built into the cabinet.
The Dallas chips have a battery epoxied into them, so when that dies, so does the machine, the idea being that you replace the chip and the machine works again. Except when you can't find a replacement chip to purchase, or the new-old stock you find is the same age, complete with dead battery. That Dallas had planned from the start to keep customers locked in to their product line is, in my experience, creating an adversarial relationship with the consumer.
Glitch Works makes a replacement that sits in the slot with an exposed coin cell that is easy to replace...aka, how it should have been made to begin with. So, the last bar-top game I worked on was able to run like new again with a modern part that took about three minutes to install.
0xEF•8mo ago
As an enthusiast of vintage tech who enjoys repairing them when I can, it is getting harder and harder to find original or compatible parts in a lot of cases, simply because the company that made them 30-40 years ago no longer exists (or, sometimes, still exists but operates in an entirely different capacity).
A recent example I encountered of adversarial interoperability was having to order a product from Glitch Works on Tindie.com. They make a modern-hardware replacement for an outdated Dallas DSXXXX security chip that was put in some old bar-top video game machines, something I enjoy fixing now and then. For those below a certain age, these big CRT video game machines sat on the counter in bars, patrons feeding in dollars to play video poker or slots using a handful of physical buttons built into the cabinet.
The Dallas chips have a battery epoxied into them, so when that dies, so does the machine, the idea being that you replace the chip and the machine works again. Except when you can't find a replacement chip to purchase, or the new-old stock you find is the same age, complete with dead battery. That Dallas had planned from the start to keep customers locked in to their product line is, in my experience, creating an adversarial relationship with the consumer.
Glitch Works makes a replacement that sits in the slot with an exposed coin cell that is easy to replace...aka, how it should have been made to begin with. So, the last bar-top game I worked on was able to run like new again with a modern part that took about three minutes to install.