Wow! Here comes Setsuden-mushi.! Chapter 5 Parents of Setsuden-mushi 5.1 Mother, a waste of NTT products 5.1.1 The Merits and Demerits of Electronization of Analog Devices
Today, the telephone itself has become an electronic module, making it impossible for me, a novice in electricity and electronics, to disassemble it, let alone repair any malfunctions. The telephone bell for external use is also now an electronic sound alarm. From the viewpoints of function, productivity, quantity of parts, model design, and design changes, it may be better overall to go electronic.
However, amateurs have been deprived of the pleasure of disassembly and repair. Although it is a trend of the times, I am not alone in feeling a little sad.
The external telephone bell that was the mother of Setsuden-mushi was a kind of analog device, so even I, an amateur in electricity and electronics, could understand its mechanism to some extent. Once I understood its mechanical movements and functions, it was possible to make minor repairs and modifications, and I was able to create the operational movements that I myself had imagined. This led to the development of Setsuden-mushi.
In companies or organizations of a certain size, it is possible to develop a single product by dividing the roles of the staff who come up with the idea, the staff who materialize it, and the staff who test it, but in a very small and tiny individual company like mine, a third party will not be convinced unless I conduct basic movement experiments by myself. Because of the digitalization trend of the times, we may often have to stop in the middle of development due to the barrier of digitalization in the future. However, this must be taken as an implication to learn more.
From these perspectives, analog equipment may in a sense be more widely user-friendly. For example, analog characteristics may be indispensable for human beings, as seen in the phenomenon of the return from CDs to vinyl records and from digital clocks to hand clocks.
In terms of production efficiency and production cost, many electrical products seem to have a modularized production pattern. Even automobiles are moving in the direction of modularization, but I fear that while this may contribute greatly to the completion of product assembly, it may have the disadvantage of making it difficult for customers to remove or repair only the faulty parts when they are used and breakdowns occur.
In other words, I am concerned that the parts of the product that do not need to be repaired will be subject to disposal, leading to an increase in the volume of industrial waste when considering the resource as a whole. I hope this is not a groundless fear.
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