Obsolescence Archives - Page 5 of 5

Jul 25

Does Innovation = Forced Obsolescence?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

Is there a downside to new technology innovation? We all love and encourage innovation, but what is the hidden cost?

Critical embedded applications in the Defense and Medical industry are a great example of where this question comes into play. Both these applications have people’s lives relying on them, and both require extended life cycles due to critical verification and certification requirements.

If an OEM experiences sharp drop in demand for a particular embedded board, it doesn’t make any business sense to continue building more, and the board will likely become obsolete. Everyone understands that an OEM can’t remain competitive if they have to support every product they’ve ever developed… forever. But if that board is still being used in the defense or medical industry, suddenly the systems engineer is faced with diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages (DMSMS) and higher risk of exposure to counterfeits if obsolete components must now be sourced.
Jul 11

SMTA & CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit Electronic Parts and Electronic Supply Chain

GDCA

Anti-Counterfeiting, Defense, Events, Obsolescence

The recent reports concerning the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 continue to shake up things in the Defense industry. This past week was the SMTA & CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit […]
Jun 07

What does Brooks Stevens have to do with “Planned Obsolescence”?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

You may not know about Brooks Stevens, and today is his birthday.

Clifford Brooks Stevens, born June 7, 1911, was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles and motorcycles— as well as a graphic designer and stylist. At the time of his death, he was considered “a major force in industrial design.”

If Google was to do a custom sketch for his birthday, it would probably be the widely recognized Oscar Mayer “Wienermobile” or the Harley-Davidson motorcycles body he designed in the 60s (production of new bikes are still based on Stevens’ body designs).

But how many will reference a topic sure to light a fuse in any frugal consumer? Planned Obsolescence.
May 23

Who says obsolete equipment is junk?

GDCA

Manufacturing

Sometimes we can get a little carried away with our work here at GDCA. From embedded boards to trains, we love talking about all things legacy and EOL; and we […]
May 01

GDCA: Celebrating 25 Years of Legacy Support

GDCA

Events, Obsolescence

1987 takes us back: a dozen eggs were 65 cents, a gallon of gas was 89 cents, you and the family may have tuned-in to watch the premiere of a […]
Apr 11

Does the prospect of overstocking kill your critical embedded systems?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

2011 wasn’t an easy year for DRAM manufacturers. The move from notebooks towards tablets and technology using NAND flash did nothing to bolster a struggling semiconductor industry. In this type […]
Apr 04

Vehicle Electronics and the U.S. Army’s New VICTORY Standard

GDCA

Defense, Events

Like the image to the side, modern combat vehicle electronics can resemble a bowl of hardware spaghetti. Different “bolt-on” devices and adaptors are stitched together by multiple suppliers who may […]
Feb 29

What does obsolesence, trains, and Embedded World 2012 have in common?

GDCA

Events, Rail

I must admit, I’m looking forward to the upcoming Embedded World 2012 presentation on Model Based Design and Testing of Embedded Systems for the Train & Transportation Industry by Franck […]
Feb 22

Medical Design & Manufacturing West

GDCA

Events

The conference that was bigger than I even imagined. As any business owner knows, you are always going to find new conferences, events, or trade shows you didn’t know about, […]
Feb 08

Could Stephen Hawking’s voice go end-of-life (EOL)?

GDCA

Obsolescence

Whether you’re checking out his illuminating talks on the nature of the universe, theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity; watching him play himself on Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Simpsons and Futurama; or […]