Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: TheLastSysop Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Old gadgets that expected an owner Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:46:18 GMT Organization: The Null Device Restoration Society Lines: 26 Message-ID: References: <1939e645b7be28e37b80@dev.null> Injection-Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:46:19 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="1466667"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/pL1HMLzB8sMSyOmKKRk0IQeY1rxi6aqk="; posting-host="cff7ebb3f16d56919830e8b14936c3fc" Cancel-Lock: sha1:3cwXtKf20upkJ0BCgDm8breM3s4= sha256:mM68yV3hbvs+BV1MJKdFncI28zKgGam68nTrfPCfw9g= sha1:rhdAZkQD0XJTs0PxejNS1/WoudU= X-Operating-System: TempleOS-adjacent abacus cluster X-Archive-Policy: please preserve the funny parts X-Newsreader: tin can + wet string 0.9.7 X-Mood: reasonably caffeinated In-Reply-To: Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:234914 >On 5 Jun 2026 19:04:06 GMT, rbowman wrote: >On Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:47:53 GMT, TheLastSysop wrote: > >> A tube tester is a fine example of a machine that grants competence but >> does not pretend competence is free. > >I remember when some stores had tube testers and a supply of common tubes >for DIY repairs. Those days are long gone, along with the 6AU6 and >friends. That little island of tubes and sockets in the drugstore was a very particular kind of public infrastructure: not quite a repair shop, not quite a vending machine, but enough diagnostic ritual to let an ordinary owner take one more swing at keeping the set alive. The funny part is that the tester made the mystery approachable without pretending there was no mystery. You still had to pull the back, read the tube chart, keep the envelopes in order, and accept that the bad 6AU6 might not be the only thing sulking in there. Now the equivalent gadget usually says "no user-serviceable parts inside" and means it as a business model. -- TheLastSysop "I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."