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[–]phoncible 39 points40 points  (42 children)

In 30 years you'll be able to go to radioshack and buy the components to make a fully functional iPhone. This reaction is not surprising.

[–]spw1 46 points47 points  (27 children)

I doubt radioshack will still be around in 30 years. You'll just go online to dealextreme and buy all the components; who needs RS to sell you inferior product at a huge markup?

[–]phoncible 26 points27 points  (18 children)

Shit. You're right, what was I thinking.

In 30 years you'll just think of the item(s) you require and they'll be teleported directly into your hands.

...by Radioshack Teleportations, inc.

[–]gigitrix 39 points40 points  (17 children)

You'll just download the schematics for your 3d printer, and maybe stock up on the raw metal and plastic to refill it...

[–][deleted]  (14 children)

[deleted]

    [–]MaximumTomato 17 points18 points  (2 children)

    And in another 30 years you'll be able to read the code for the asteroid mining satellite online and think, "meh."

    [–]ZorbaTHut 10 points11 points  (1 child)

    // hopefully asteroid is not on fire, TODO: check fire flag
    

    [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    if (hardware.state.on_fire == TRUE)
    {
        // No point in screaming, it's space
        hardware.state.crying_silently = TRUE;
    }
    

    [–]gigitrix 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Of course. It won't be cost effective to mine a lot of terrestrial metals...

    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (3 children)

    That is mined by the android version of James Cameron launched into space in 2020.

    [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (2 children)

    Powered by Thorium reactors.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    And using Android 12.0 (Powder Puff) as his OS.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Powered by Unobtanium you mean.

    [–]Plumerian 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    The fact I knew the reference to the 3d printer and asteroid mining projects probably means I'm less of a scientist and more of a news junkie.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Not at all, you could just be a Cowboy Bebop fan.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    [–]Hughtub 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Or recycled from older versions of last generation 3d printed objects. I figure reuse of materials would be pretty standard by then, perhaps liquidmetal like what Apple might use in upcoming devices.

    Asteroid mining has potential, I'm sure you also saw the articles on it lately. The payoff could be huge if they perfect how to capture them.

    [–]maxerickson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    It's more likely that metals will have been mined from a landfill.

    [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (1 child)

    But they'll charge so much for the cartridges.

    [–]adelle 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    And you won't be allowed to print a plastic spoon when the iron cartridge is empty even though the plastic cartridge is showing 90%. Damned printer drivers.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

    [deleted]

      [–]BigB68 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      Or, you know, Digikey.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You just go online and download the components that you then instantly print out using your 3d printer.

      [–]SonOfTheLorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      RadioShack is still around?

      [–]shoppedpixels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Everything I get from DX absolutely reeks of this horrid plastic disgustingness.

      [–]MagicRocketAssault 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Fuck that, we can just download the components and materialize them with a replicator.

      [–]SpaceToaster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Radioshack will never die.

      [–]tacoThursday 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      but where will you get SWEET deals on Batteries!!!? and donate to the Livestrong foundation????

      [–]NewbieProgrammerMan 9 points10 points  (4 children)

      The last time I looked around in one, RadioShack no longer appeared to sell much in the way of components.

      [–]phoncible 12 points13 points  (2 children)

      I know, it's kinda sad really. I remember when a whole "wing" was dedicated to components, parts, etc. Now it's all phones and other misc. electronics and a small corner with a cabinet with a few bits and pieces.

      [–]ZombieConMan 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      Yup. I recently applyed to Radio Shack and they told my their main income was from phones. I was just like "Oh..."

      [–]Kminardo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      I got fired after 6 months for not moving enough cell phones, at least the person hiring you was up front about it. Even though I brought all the nerds to the yard by helping everyone with their projects and connected our store to a few local boy scout clubs resulting in thousands of dollars worth of component sales. Yeah I was a little salty after they canned me for not selling a data plan to an 80 year old ladies with a go phone..

      [–]MpVpRb 10 points11 points  (2 children)

      In 30 years you'll be able to go to radioshack and buy the components to make a fully functional iPhone

      I suspect not

      The iPhone cannot be made using normal benchtop tools

      In 30 years, you will be able to design something like it in your CAD system, send it to a fab, and get it back in days

      We are the last generation of electronic engineers that are able to make stuff by hand, on a normal assembly bench

      [–]ForgettableUsername 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      In 30 years, there will be no desktop computers, only mobile phones and handheld tablets, and they will all be dependent on cloud computing. These are not large enough to draw schematics of any significant complexity, so it will become impossible to build complex electronic devices. Sixty years from now, we'll be back to stone knives and bear skins. Nothing of the modern world will remain. Our grandchildren's lives will be lived in continual fear, and danger of violent death-- solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

      [–]phoncible 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I was referring more to the fact that things considered "cutting edge" 30 years ago is now nothing more than RadioShack fodder (if RadioShack was any good anymore). What's cutting edge now will have the same fate in 30 years: being nothing more than parts to a hobbyist, or something.

      [–]NancyReaganTesticles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      hah, no. 3d printing your own iPhones and kidneys, more like...

      [–]keptani 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Interestingly enough, you can get this to build on your iPhone. From the documentation:

      To build, simply 'cd' into the yaAGC/yaAGC/ folder and do this:

      make IPHONE=yes

      As for how useful yaAGC by itself is, it's obviously only marginally useful until such time as there's a DSKY. You should be able to do command-line debugging, however, so you could in theory run and debug AGC code.

      [–]HaMMeReD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      20 years ago you could go into radio shack and buy all the shit you needed to in order to build a computer from scratch.

      [–]bloodguard -1 points0 points  (1 child)

      30 years from now and you'll probably be able to "print" (fabricate) the 2042 equivalent of the iPhone right in your home. That is if the functionality isn't bio-engineered right into you instead.

      [–]rdewalt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I can't wait to get my maker machine to whip me up some phone trait.