This morning I had to coordinate the move of a VERY old piece of laboratory equipment (older than me at least) that I use frequently. I have been looking forward to this as I have had to walk to other side of the hospital to use this machine all the time and it is a big waste of time and not available on weekends. (The explanation of the politics preventing this move for 2 years belongs in an entirely different post :) )
So, it wasn't until 5 big burly men turned up to move it that I realised how heavy it is! (120+kg) It took half the day to take it from one side of the hospital and install on the other side (and I haven't even plugged it all in yet!) It is such a lot of work for one piece of equipment that I am the only one using, yet I can't do without it.
So it got me thinking. This machine has done what I need it to do, almost every day for 2 years, and LOTS of people have used it before me. I can't imagine any of the newer pieces of equipment we use frequently lasting that long before it is superseded by incompatible technology. I imagine PCR will be around for a long time to come, but I doubt the thermocyclers we use now are going to be usable in 2o years. Or at least, the plates/tubes etc. won't be compatible.
Things are moving increasingly quickly aren't they?
2013: Year End Meme
11 years ago
1 comment:
There does appear to be some sort of planned obsolescence with a variety of lab equipment. I used to Old Fancy Piece of Equipment and it had been in the lab for 18 years. We just recently replaced it. However, the PCR machine that we have now was just recently replaced and is quickly becoming obsolete. I'm not sure if this is just "clever" product design or that technology is just moving that quickly.
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