Electronic Obsolescence

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Now this is a thought provoking topic, and one that should concern all of 
us Alfisti, because the factory abandoned us here on our "Island".

Question: will electronics make for earlier or later obsolescence? IC's are 
very capital intensive, for the first one, but the economies of scale are 
tremendous, so that the cost of the billionth IC is next to nothing. EPROMs 
are also the major component which might become obsolete, and possibly the 
one most vulnerable to failure. However, many after market tuners have no 
apparent difficulty getting hold of the right EPROM to issue a revised 
"chip" for even low volume cars. Granted the up front costs for the new 
program for an EPROM can be pretty daunting, but not in the same league as 
a new design of IC. BTW, the actual circuit boards are very reliable. they 
generally work when built or not, then last for a very long time.

I'm no expert (as many of you are aware!) but I was intrigued enough by 
this post to offer my own rudimentary thoughts. Will future electronic 
components be harder to source than say a distributor for a 67 Duetto?
Michael Smith
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
91 Alfa 164L, White, original owner

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