Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!pprg.unm.edu!hc!ames!oliveb!sun!concertina!fiddler
From: fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: $300 Mac II ADB fuse repair
Message-ID: <87923@sun.uucp>
Date: 1 Feb 89 23:16:34 GMT
References: <11984@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> <76000341@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Lines: 31

In article <76000341@p.cs.uiuc.edu>, gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
> 
> Why does Apple do this sort of stuff?
> 
> -- Why would anyone solder a fuse to a circuit board?

Someone else covered this one recently...

> -- Why would anyone solder a battery to a circuit board?

If you have a low-drain application battery installed in a
spot where it's expected to perform for a long time, the
most common cause of failure is typically degradation of
the batteries contacts.

If you have a battery that is expected to provide a low
current for a long time, the most common failure derives
from oxidation of the contacts.  If you expect that most
of your customers aren't willing (or able) to hop inside
and fix things (or figure out what the problem is, you
just might try soldering the battery in place and sidestep
the problem.  Icky maybe, but it saves a lot of grief
spread over a couple million systems.

When one of my cameras is five years old, I have to send
it back to the maker to replace the...um...prarmeter RAM
battery.  Might as well replace the LCD panel on the top
at the same time, since it will probably have degraded
quite a bit by the same time.

Beats cleaning and lubricating gears periodically, I guess.