Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!mmm
From: mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Cleaning failing keyboard (classic mac)
Message-ID: <32198@cup.portal.com>
Date: 28 Jul 90 22:25:03 GMT
References: <1990Jul18.192345.28703@d.cs.okstate.edu>
  <32099@cup.portal.com> <1990Jul26.170625.21247@cs.umn.edu>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 19

I happen to own a solder-sucker, and didn't use it because slamming the
keyboard against the table was more handy.  A solder-sucker also is more
expensive than a small spool of solder-wick, at least for a one-time
application.

A solder-sucker also doesn't do as clean a job as solder-wick, though it
does about as good a job as slamming against a table.  Some of the more
prissy readers may prefer solder-wick for this reason.
^^^^^^ -- oops, there I go using a word certain people will want to edit out :-)

I think it's fair to use the s-word to describe the designers of a product
guaranteed to fail under reasonable conditions.  As I mentioned before,
2 out of 2 classic Mac keyboards have failed in my home environment.
What made my home environment so hostile to Mac's?  Cat hair.  I have two
cats.  When I cleaned out that keyswitch, what I removed was a little ball
of cat hair which had accumulated in the switch.  I think that all
consumer products should be designed to tolerate common elements in the
home environment, such as cat hair, cigarette smoke, etc.  Failure to
do so is bad engineering.