"WAY SIDE" REPAIR SHOPS

[shyamwestwind]

Hi Everyone
JohnG started it all, talking about the Built in obsolescence in the world of today.Manufacturers put a "time bomb" in their products so they self destruct after a stipulated period of time. The buyer has to buy a new product and the manufacturer is happy. Use and throw is the order of the day
Repairs are things of the past Not so in India, The ingenuity of the simple "way side" repair man is amazing. Armed with just few watch screw drivers, a 10 W, soldering iron and maybe a multimeter,the electronic genius who may not even have seen the corner of a circuit diagram, looks at your non working amplifier, TV , telephone, Washing Machine or even your expensive new mobile phone cum MP3 player, camera and tells you confidently that some IC has burnt out and he'll have it fixed by the next day. The word "IC" sounds impressive so he uses it to show his importance , whatever !! The next day arrives and whatever you gave him is now alive and kicking. All this for something you would not believe if I told you.
The automobile repair men are the Henry Fords and Suzukis of India and they are present and at your service 24/7 in and around the millions of villages and on every motorable road in this country. An amazing lot of hard working, logical thinking men and boys who will get your vehicle on road again, no matter what the problem.
The cobbler on the road, the tailor, the weaver,the mason,the carpenter, blacksmith the butcher, the shepherd, the farmer, the village musician,all simple folk apply their simple logic and devise ways to create something useful, repair things effectively.
I can chant their praises for all time and I hope this truth , that nothing is impossible will be with us always.

[JohnG]

Hi Shyam,

Actually what I was saying was quite the opposite. The good old Yamaha SW1000-XG is a brilliant card IMHO. Mine is still going strong after don't know how many years. So is my even earlier Yamaha DB50-XG (waveblaster socket) daughter board. The DS2416 mixer card (also from Yamaha, a 01 digital mixer on a PCI card) is still available via ebay from time-to-time at sensible prices. And these products just go on-and-on. Testimony to the excellence of the original design and build. ;D

Plus they brought out all those clever little daughter boards that clipped onto an SW1k or into the MU128. I've swapped those boards back and forth from the SW1k into a Kenton Plugstation then on into various MUs and (so far (touch wood)) well perhaps I'd better not say any more for fear of reprisals from the gods or gremlins. But do I expect any support for Vista? Not a cat in hells chance it seems.

But it's b---y Microsnot who keeps changing the way that Windoze drivers are required to work, one way for '95 another for '98 then NT next 2k followed by XP now Vista that causes manufacturers to tear their hair out trying to keep a whole raft of drivers updated for each new version of bloatware that hits the market. Oops, I forgot that ill begotten son-of-a-female-dog called Windoze ME somewhere in that list of so called operating systems that have been foisted upon us in the last decade or so. That's 7, yes SEVEN versions of Windoze in the last 13 years. Is the public gullible or what?

So what happens? The manufacturers give up supporting perfectly good hardware. They decide only to bring out products in certain countries. The Yamaha MU1000 and 2000 were only available in Japan, the WX5 Wind Controller was never launched in Europe it seems or was withdrawn. Then the Yamaha XG sequencer XGworks was brought to v3 then all development stopped (for the rest of the world) except in Japan where v4 came out then a new version for XP. Now I think even that won't be updated for Vista.

Yamaha has pulled ALL XG documentation from its UK and Japanese web sites. It's even closed down the excellent UK XG support site. Is it Yamaha's fault? No, IMO it's the relentless march to the pace of Microsnot.

Okay, rant over. Well until tomorrow that is.

But, to follow what Shyam said, yes, thank goodness for the little street corner repairer (if they manage to stay in business). Most of the good ones here are in the black economy. Everything is done strictly for cash. You can't make a living running a proper shop for the rents, rates, taxes, prohibitions, forms to be filled in, employment laws, lighting laws, electricity laws, heating laws, eating laws, drinking laws, breathing laws to name but a few! Best say no more.

Oh well!
bye from grumpy old John.