Car Parts (was Computer Schematics)

[Fringe Ryder <Fringe@ai.net>]

>Related rant:
>
>This is one of the real problems technical advancement has created.  
[snip]
>1)  Car manufacturers are NO longer in the business of repairing 
>parts which fail.   They are in the business of *replacing* parts which 
>fail.  BIG difference.  I can rebuild the fuel pump on my 1958 Fiat 
>1200 Sypder, but not on my 280ZXT or Audi 200.

That's not because they're in the business of replacing parts, but because
they're in the business of being competitive selling whole cars.  A
repairable fuel pump has to be assembled in such a way that it can be
disassembled.  A mass-produced fuel pump can simply be bonded shut rather
than screwed together.  All the parts can be stamped and snapped, again
rather than screwed or tabbed together.  It is, therefore, much cheaper
because few humans are involved in manufacturing the part.

There are some largely hand-made cars out there still.  All of them are
exotics.  

I used to be able to repair floppy disk drives.  Technically, I still can
although it's not as easy.  However, they also cost so little now that it's
not worth the point.  Which would I prefer... a $395 floppy drive in more
expensive 1980 dollars (what is that, $800 now?) or a $50 floppy drive
that's more reliable in 1996 dollars?  Fewer repairs, cost less up front -
it would take a lot of FREE repairs to equal the financial savings of
replacing the less-breakage-prone new one.

Regards