@Rider Sandman posted:Which has literally zero to do with why old chipsets are so expensive. Despite being high tech, modern processors are built in high volume and consumed into many modern products. Tooling up a 30-year-old ASIC to make a few thousand copies of it creates a part that costs multiples of what one of the processors you mentioned does. It literally has nothing to do with the sophistication of the device.
I started my career as a powertrain engineer. The engine controls we built in the 90s were absolute dinosaurs compared to today’s units. Yet, I could buy modern devices for a fraction of what it would cost me to retool and build a 90s era engine control. Like the Lionel boards at play in this discussion, the cost of producing those ancient ASICs has nothing to do with their sophistication relative to current technology. This is true in every industry. The fact our hobby has a DIY tradition of keeping old things running doesn’t allow it to escape this reality.
Lionel absolutely could produce these boards if they wanted to, but then there’d be a different thread exclaiming shock at the $800 cost of the boards…..
All Malarky - Lol - I designed some boards a few years ago for controls. Low volume didn’t even come near that price. I had Ed bender design some boards for another job of mine - didn’t come near that price.
