Is the Game Boy the Toughest Product Ever Made? 547
An anonymous reader writes "CNET is running an article about tough technology, which aptly includes the Nintendo Game Boy, a device so tough that mine still works after many years. 'There's no two ways about it: the original Game Boy is one of the hardest gadgets ever conceived. Rumor has it this beige behemoth isn't made of plastic, but from the skulls of fallen Gurkhas. If you ever saw one that was broken, it's because it lost a boxing match with a nuclear bomb — on points.' So do you agree that the Game Boy is the toughest consumer electronics device ever made?"
Pet Rock... (Score:5, Funny)
I still have my pet rock, 30+ years later...
Re:Pet Rock... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pet Rock... (Score:5, Funny)
I'll get Karma burn for not posting as AC, but I'd rather have that then someone calling me out for being afraid of Chuck Norris and posting as AC.
Re:Pet Rock... (Score:4, Funny)
They prefer the term "Muslim," you insensitive clod!
Not That Tough (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Insightful)
It still works. All of it. I have had to replace the batteries in the external battery pack, but that is it. I mean, the damn thing is almost 20 years old. It still turns on just fine.
Also, the guys with the blowing in cartridges and stuff... Well, if you didin't carry the thing in your pocket like a goober then you woulden't have to do that. Mine works, and it has been sitting on my shelf for the last 10 years.
I just pulled it out of the plastic bag, put some batteries in it, and stuck in both Quarth and RC Pro Am into it. No corrupted graphics at all.
Sure they are toys. But they are also MY toys. I want them to work. I have all my consoles, and they all still work. Even the Virtualboy... Which was a good idea, but just failed in the execution.
Nintendo knows its market. They realized that kids are a lot harder on consoles than adults--and their market is kids. So, all of their stuff is remarkably hardy. Except for the Virtualboy. That thing broke if you dropped it hard enough. Well, it did have rotating mirrors... Lets not mention the VB again, shall we?
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Interesting)
That doesn't prove anything! (Score:3, Funny)
(Come to think of it, We shouldn't be surprised at the density of your noggin, being that you chose to use your head as a hammer as opposed to the wall or some other, non-organic instrument of destruction
Still, made for a funny anecdote...
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:4, Informative)
(Informative)
YOU STUPID MORON! CAN'T YOU FUCKING PARSE WHAT PEOPLE MEAN?
(Troll, Flamebait)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not That Tough (Score:5, Funny)
That's cool! What happens if you press "Up Down Up Down Left Right Left Right AB AB" on the GBC (not your wife
Re:Pet Rock... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pet Rock... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Pet Rock... (Score:4, Funny)
Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Phones (back when the phone company owned them) (Score:4, Interesting)
I made the mistake of mentioning this to a mate at work (which was McDonalds at the time, thankfully I'm in a slightly higher paying job now), who promptly threw it hard at the wall. The "in" side of an "outside" wall, i.e. thinly disguised brick.
The battery cover came off, but the clips weren't broken and the battery hadn't come loose (the phone was still on and working), so I just clipped the cover back on and put it in my pocket. Phone still worked perfectly well over a year later: I got a bluetooth headset (back when they were actually quite expensive) instead of a new phone on renewal of my contract because I didn't want a new phone.
My point is that modern phones (i.e mobiles) are "darn near indestructible" too, or at least the mobile phones which aren't swivel/twist/slide/clamshell jobs.
In fact most portable devices are designed to survive a drop from 2 meters onto concrete, so (back on topic) this story about the GameBoy being the "toughest product ever made" seems somewhat unlikely. *clicks link* wow it's not even really an article.
To be fair though, I only know of one dead GameBoy original, and that was fished out of a lake by my dad (slightly more modern version of "catching an old boot"?)
Nokia 5165 (Score:5, Interesting)
What really got me was that I figured I had driven over the thing about eight times.
Blah (Score:5, Interesting)
I've had this for over 25 years. Still works.
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The more important question is... (Score:5, Funny)
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(Yeah - this is a really low comment bad for my karma...)
Re:The more important question is... (Score:5, Funny)
Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
My wife's 2nd gen iPod has seen constant and rugged use since it was bought and it still works great.
While I'm here, I'd like to also give a shoutout to my ancient HP Vectra VE, which until recently was my file/dyndns/hotline server . They don't make PCs like they used to, that's for sure.
Spent a week in the lake (Score:5, Interesting)
That damn thing worked after we dried it out for a couple days and popped fresh batteries in it. It was missing a couple lines on the display, but it worked.
Granted, it was fresh water, but still.
Much togher stuff! (Score:3, Interesting)
For modern kit, I'd put some money on The TDS Recon http://www.tdsway.com/products/recon [tdsway.com]. I have seen one thrown off a building and they keep one in a fish tank in their lobby http:/ [tdsway.com]
Re:Spent a week in the lake (Score:5, Informative)
Eons ago I was a repair tech fixing oscilloscopes for Tektronix. Standard procedure for ANY piece of gear coming in the office was it went into the "wash rack." We took off all the side panels, hosed it down using essentially the same equipment you use in a self-serv car wash (w/soap & water), rinsed it, then it went into the dryers (I forget the exact temp, but as I recall it was relatively low, less than 150F I think). The only important thing we needed to remember is to put it in the dryers such that certain power transformer cans had their opening facing down (otherwise they could fill with water and three days then wasn't enough to dry it out). After that, we plugged it in and fired it up. This included both the ancient vacuum tube equipment and modern IC circuit-board equipment, including CRTs and the like. I suppose current gear with LCDs may get waterspots on the panels, and certain components might be uniquely sensitive. Mechanical devices such as VCRs might have grease on some moving parts that could be an issue but nothing Tek made at the time had that problem, and if they did the solution would likely be to re-lube the device.
The important thing if you drop your ipod or whatever into the toilet, is to take out the batteries as soon as possible and open it up to the extent possible and leave it out to dry for a week or so. Movies & television shows that show dropping something electrical into water causing lots of sparks is mostly special-effect pyrotechnics and not reality. If it's plugged into AC though, unplug it from the wall first before you reach into the water, or you may get zapped...
Tap water does conduct electricity so if it gets wet when it's powered on it could cause shorts that may damage things, but probably only with sensitive circuitry, as water looks like a resistor not a dead short so many circuits could survive it without damage. Battery powered units should be powered off ASAP though, as it could cause things to heat up. Yank out the batteries completely right away as well to minimize such adverse effects...
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There's that funny demo experiment with guns :
You take a set of 100 soldiers, place them in a square of 10x10, and have them trample mud where th guns are. After 10 minutes of walking in place, they go elsewhere, you take the gun from the mud and shoot. AK-47s and FN FALs are about the only ones that can still shoot straight after that.
Now go try with that plastic M-16 toy...
Um, what? (Score:5, Informative)
-molo
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Re:Um, what? (Score:5, Funny)
Atari 2600 controller (Score:2, Informative)
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(yeah, posted just after me carping about slow news days. it's just the "ask slashdot" part of it that bugged me)
That's odd... (Score:3, Interesting)
required subject is stupid (Score:2)
!DIAF (Score:5, Interesting)
I remember reading a blurb in an issue of Nintendo Power (I want to say sometime in the early 90's) that featured a picture of a Game Boy that had supposedly been in a house fire. They were able to fit the Tetris cartridge back into the slot, turn the game on, and actually play it (albeit, with some loss in the pixels) even though the shell of the system was almost completely charred.
I think that's pretty hardcore.
Re:!DIAF (Score:5, Informative)
Re:!DIAF (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBeTXPaewMo [youtube.com]
Re:!DIAF (Score:4, Informative)
No rocket scientist (Score:2, Insightful)
Bad LCDs (Score:5, Informative)
You never owned a Game Boy (Score:2)
Re:You never owned a Game Boy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You never owned a Game Boy (Score:5, Funny)
And anyone with the common sense to wash their hands after eating Cheetos never had this issue...
This one survived the first Gulf War (Score:5, Interesting)
Nope, look at the iPhone...get flattened by a semi (Score:4, Interesting)
One iPhone, gets left out... and flattened by a Semi tractor trailer. Took a lickin', kept on tickin'.
Man, I wish my iPod was half that tough. :( (Score:2)
The only piece of tech I broke within two weeks (Score:2)
I broke mine (Score:2)
Melty (Score:2, Interesting)
here's a pic and a flash video of it:
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-fully-functional-gulf-war-gameboy#more-6645 [techeblog.com]
Pretty badass...
I dunno, the gamecube might have something to say (Score:2)
Creative Media (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Especially for point #3
Palm Vx (Score:2)
Digitizer (Score:2)
Nintendo Wii Controller (Score:5, Funny)
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Durability stopped with the origional GB. (Score:3, Funny)
I also broke several GB advances, I think it's the flip open design, it stresses the screens somehow.
No. That would be the Rancilio Sylvia (Score:2)
http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/consumer/rancilio_silvia [coffeegeek.com]
That thing is freak'n indestructible. I've had one for almost seven years, use it daily - sometimes left on all day - and the damn thing just won't break. I wonder if I'll have it for the rest of my life because it shows no signs of impending failure.
I dunno about that (Score:5, Interesting)
I got a new unit a couple months later from my dad which lasted me close to a year before it finally wouldn't turn on one day. We tried replacing the batteries, but nothing would fix it. I remember seeing my dad with it open on his desk doing some kind of surgery to it. He wound up taking the screen out of that one and transplanting it into my first one, thereby fixing it (I had to do a similar thing with my PSP, but that's another story). That gameboy still works to this day, although I made the mistake of putting the majority of my gameboy and gamegear games into the same drawer as this 8" speaker magnet that I had and none of them work anymore.
I've got really bad luck with electronics... Not including the normal upgrade process, only replacements for faulty units, I've had about 6 ipods, more than 10 cell phones, 3 palm pilots, 2 PSPs, 3 xbox360s, 2 Wiis, about 6 Laptops, a dozen monitors (CRT), countless harddrives (well over 20), and several new headphones, keyboards, mice, digital cameras, drive enclosures and powerbricks. Many were replaced under warranty, but still.
Re:I dunno about that (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I dunno about that (Score:4, Funny)
Turns out the combination of fur and latex fetishes generates an ungodly amount of static electricity...
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Magnet?!? (Score:3, Informative)
Contrary to popular belief, game cartridges are not 8-track tapes (or core memory); there is nothing in them that is stored magnetically or that could be damaged by a magnet. More likely, the connectors have oxidized.
Re:I dunno about that (Score:5, Insightful)
Some old radios (Score:2)
Other products (Score:3, Insightful)
My first camera was a Canon Snappy 35mm. It held its own for many years. By comparison, the non-digital Elph2 I got afterwards made it through a single summer (of near daily travel and use).
The only phones that ever survived abuse were my old Nokias. I dropped them countless times and they always worked.
As much as I dislike a lot of Sony's corporate policies, their consumer products I've bought have been sturdy as hell. My Sports Walkman worked flawlessly for a decade, and the CD-Walkman I got afterwards made it through a summer of constant traveling unscathed.
It is too early to tell, but I think the 2nd-gen iPod shuffles will hold up well. There's not much to them, after all.
Something has to be said for hardware designed in the 80s. I think the new small, sleek, shiny designs lend themselves to not be as reliable over the long run; any cosmetic defects would be more apparent.
My parents have an old IBM XT. Ten years after they got it, I was using it for word processing, programming, and who knows what else. I booted it up a few weeks ago and it was running like I remembered it, over 20 years later. An old wood-paneled Kenmore TV also lasted about twenty years.
What I've heard is that in certain types of consumer electronics (especially ones where form factor, not software is likely to change), the first-generation products usually hold up extremely well. These are things like the $1000 CD players and $500 DVD players. They become cheaper as they reach a mass market due to economies of scale, but the components usually get cheaper too.
Nintendo... (Score:3, Interesting)
My Son has a GBA, GBA SP and GBA DS. They all still work despite being dropped, crushed in backpacks, and having been loaned to a two year old nephew. Pretty hard to beat that sort of treatment.
With the exception of the absolutely completely f9(^*(%'n useless screen on the GBA, I've been very impressed with Nintendo game machines.
Seriously, what idiot released the original GBA?
Brad
Toughest device? (Score:5, Funny)
Cartridge Systems (Score:2)
Xbox 360 (Score:5, Funny)
Not so much (Score:5, Funny)
Gameboy 0
Nintendo Gamecube it's pretty tough too (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEvlWQ5ULCg [youtube.com]
Same with original Nintendo DS, when closed mode it will withstand most drops.
What, no IBM keyboards?! (Score:5, Funny)
preach it, brother! (Score:5, Funny)
Um, hypothetically, I mean.
TI Calculators (Score:3, Interesting)
HP 48s (Score:3, Interesting)
I heard one of the 9/11 rescue workers found one in the rubble, and it was still working.
One thing Bill Gates did right... (Score:5, Interesting)
The portable, handheld battery-operated TRS-80.
Solid as a rock. There are tales of people skipping them across concrete and they still work.
And as far as the code? Bill must have done something right, because as of a few years ago (I last heard this in 2005 or 2004) there are still some of these beasts in use. Not much computing power, but they have an RS-232 port. The O/S is flexible enough that there are corporations using the device still. Apparently, the thing is so tough that there are off-shore oil platforms running some ancient equipment that dumps data through an RS-232 port, and the crews that have to service them use the portable TRS-80's to grab the data and take it back to their offices where they upload it to their PC's. More modern equipment apparently chokes after constant exposure to salt air, constant shock, and, well, oil workers. They're tough guys, you know.
Original Blackberries (Score:4, Interesting)
Blackberry (Score:3, Interesting)
No problems with it, the casing is scratched up badly, but it still works.
My replacement 7520 undergoes a similar test every couple weeks, and holds up just fine.
I'm Sure Nintendo Made Them Tough (Score:3, Insightful)
Snap-on? (Score:3, Funny)
I swear... that company must be sacrificing souls to some demon in order to make them that damn-near-physics-defyingly strong
OLPC... (Score:3, Informative)
Fisher Price Garage (Score:3, Interesting)
That, or my vote would be for anything Tonka made in the 70s. Still have several examples of those as well.
Not immune from LCD rot.... (Score:3, Informative)
The Atari Lynx (Score:3, Insightful)
The Atari Lynx uses more batteries and eats more power than a Gameboy, but it is more durable plus it came with a color LCD. It also weighs more, and has the graphics and sounds of an Amiga 1000 in a hand-held case. Plus the carts for the Lynx are wafer thin and don't need to be cleaned as often as the Gameboy carts.
Also I have a few Game.com units by Tiger, the original touch screen handheld, they last forever as well. Except when I lose the stylus pen, but a finger or retractable ink pen works just as well as a stylus. As a bonus the Game.com has built in PDA like software.
I disagree (Score:3, Interesting)
I had another problem my second GB. I'm not sure how common this is but after many years of use, on the left-hand side of the screen a whole vertical bar of pixels disappeared. This later increased to a bar three pixels wide.
From my experience, every Nintendo product made after the GB has been far more reliable.
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But - yes it is a very nice calculator and reliable. It certainly belongs to the list of GOOD devices. Compared to the TIIII 555577 that some were punished with...
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