OT Don't read this (was Re: Altair MBL source)

[John Foust]

At 07:49 PM 4/19/2005, you wrote:
>If things had worked out differently we might be using
>ultraminiature electron tubes. Imagine! An entire flipflop in one
>package!

Doesn't this possibility periodically revive itself, at least in
press releases?  That some jobs are still done well by vacuum tubes
and not silicon?

As a kid, I spent a lot of time harvesting junk from the back
of TV repair shops.  (Yes, back in the day when we fixed TVs, kids.)

So I have a visceral affection for metal in glass.  I remember 
breaking the tubes and extracting the little rings holding
the 'getter', which was calcium carbide.

Most recently, I had a tour of a small radio station by the old
engineer who kept it running with spit and baling wire.  I was
envious of his nice collection of old huge tubes from the transmitters
he'd worked on.  Let me guess.  I can buy similar tubes on eBay?

- John