this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2022
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Technology
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Is this really a year old post? It was a good read regardless.
To comment on the topic, this is going to happen more and more, especially as proprietary stuff becomes more and more complex. With implants it's obviously more serious, but this also applies to anything from cars to game consoles.
I'm no stranger to scrounging junkyards for car parts or ebay to replace components from an old console. However that cannot go on forever, as parts get more rare. This is somewhat remedied with eg. nintendo consoles, where some reproduction parts are available (cartridges, screens etc.). With more niche and increasingly complex products this option is often not available.
I don't think this is going to happen on a scale where this technology will be unusable. But they need to be backed by a company that will not go bankrupt after 15 years.
I cannot currently see how it can be done with open standards reliably.
Going bankrupt is not the only potential issue. There can also be situations, where a company makes several generations of a product, and abandons support for the old ones.
This is already a serious concern with eg. older gen chip fabrication. The machinery required for each generation was built when that gen was new, and when that machinery breaks down, it might not be economical to rebuild that capability.
The bankruptcy situation was mentioning the article.
Of course, when it comes to commercial products they will eventually be discontinued. But as long as a good replacement plan is done, like you could get the newer model much cheaper by turning in your older generation one, it will not be too much of an issue for the ones who need it.
When its actually fair to discontinue such essential products for some its debatable.
The situation in the article is for sure unique, as replacing implants with a newer version is probably not feasible. Many other simpler medical devices are different, as they could be replaced as needed.