XPost: uk.politics.misc, alt.politics.british, uk.media   
   XPost: alt.privacy   
   From: trevjon@btinternet.com   
      
   "banana"  wrote in message   
   news:nRkBsLA3fK$DFwKh@borve.demon.co.uk...   
   > In article <463mloF98pa0U3@individual.net>, oO  writes   
   >   
   >>"Poldie"  wrote in message   
   >>news:1140516644.418233.219970@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...   
   >>banana wrote:   
   >>> He's wrong about the cost. They are far cheaper than £85 and are already   
   >>> in widespread use in pets and livestock. Nor are they only made by   
   >>> Verichip/Applied.   
   >>   
   >>Well on form for Monbiot then.  I remember him wailing in the Grauniad   
   >>about how manufacturers design `throw-away` electronic gear that you   
   >>have to replace rather than fix yourself by fiendishly using screws   
   >>that normal screwdrivers can't unscrew. It obviously escaped him that   
   >>you can buy Torx screwdrivers in practically every hardware store in   
   >>the country.   
   >>   
   >>Yeah but how many people know this or can be bothered to buy Torx? He is   
   >>correct that we now live in a society where most things are disposed of   
   >>rather than fixed.   
   >   
   > Yes - I didn't read the article, but it sounds as though his point was   
   > completely right.   
   >   
      
   As a guy that mends these things for a living, there are two main reasons   
   why  items such as Torx screws are used, the first being  to stop the   
   "casual" handy man having a go at it and completely screwing it up.  I   
   suppose you could use the argument that if he owns the item, then he has as   
   much right as anyone to completely bollox it up, but one has to look at the   
   possibility that the item is owned by a company, and they wouldn't look   
   kindly upon any passing guy with a screw driver having a go at what could   
   potentially be a very expensive circuit board.   
      
   The second, and more important reason, is that "ordinary" screws, and even   
   "phillips" or "pozidrive" screws are not 100% slip proof (especially if a   
   "Philips" is used on a "pozi", or vice versa).   A very delicate PC board   
   can be rendered useless by one slipped screwdriver.  A "torx" screw helps to   
   eliminate this phenonomem (also known as "camout"when applied to ordinary   
   "allen" screws)  from the equation.  Torx screws also are also far less   
   susceptible to the keyway being damaged by overtightening, rendering the   
   screw very difficult, or in some cases impossible, to undo.   
      
   http://www.textronfasteningsystems.com/products/torxplus/drive_compare.htm   
      
   As regards the wider subject, of "throw away" electronics, I'm afraid much   
   of this boils down to old fashioned economics.   If the labour charge for   
   the engineer is £70 per hour, but the item can be replaced for £35, then   
   it's really a bit of a "no brainer" as to which option to choose.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)