Sun H/W Quality Qontrol

[henry at zoo.toronto.edu]

>... when I added memory to my
>3/60, I found that the `next' SIMM socket didn't work...
>The only way this could have passed testing is if there was none.  Pretty
>bad when you consider that connectors and cables are the most defect prone
>components in an electronic assembly.

Did Sun ever guarantee that you could install SIMMs yourself and have them
work?  Betcha they didn't. :-)  Assuming they did a proper job of hardware
quality control (I will not comment on how realistic this assumption is
:-)), they tested the configuration as shipped, on the assumption that
whoever installed field upgrades would test those upgrades and not release
them to the customer until they checked out.

I don't, offhand, know of any manufacturer who tests all possible plug-in
extras when shipping a box without them.

                                         Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
                                          henry at zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry