Looks like our audiophilia might be showing… While it has all been well and good while kept within the family, the convergance of audio and computing is exposing our penchant for products touting less-than-scientific claims and some outrageous prices. Mix in the tech-savvy, quantiative-performance oriented computing crowd and we can look pretty silly (or at least a few manufacturers can.) Take the recent item hitting tech news sites and blogs regarding Denon’s $499 ethernet cable… LINK
We’ve all heard of RoHS, the worldwide initiative for reducing hazardous substances in electronics, but many have not heard of “tin whiskers”. While this ticklish nuisance has been known for decades, it has not been a concern as the lead content in solder stopped the whiskers from developing. Now, with lead-free solders becoming the norm, whiskers are making a combeback. What’s the problem? The whiskers can grow quite long and wreak havoc by shorting cicuitry. While this can be a costly nuisance for audiophiles, it is a potentially life-threatening issue for the military and NASA. LINK
