(09-12-2014, 06:40 AM)n00bl3t Wrote: I find most German products to be over-engineered in general.
That seems to be a common trait; reliability in adverse use.
Sadly yes. German quality isn't the same like 20 or 50 years before. Our engineers learned to construct products with lower lifetime. Becouse they know, people will always need a car, tv, light bulbs or what ever.
Just an example:
My monitor died a week ago, about one month after its guarantee. Guess what was wrong... Just some damaged transistors. In 99% of all cases, it is always a transistor. Newer, and i mean NEVER throw your device away and buy a new one! You don't need to pay a lot of cash for a new electronic device, if you can simply repair it by yourself. I just payed about 95 cents for new transistors and my vater repaired it. And my monitor works again. ^^
Aren't Britain started to widely utilize tanks, in WWI times? I might be wrong, but even L.d.V. was making concepts, which could be considered Tanks, if we take time in account. And L.d.V. lived way before WWI.
About lunar program. It's very equestionable point here, because, at work with Saturn V and Apollo ships, were mostly American team. However, it's all has german origins, and this goes even to Soviet space programm. Von Braun was "captured" by team USA, which got main prize, but USSR managed to get few points too, as trophie rockets, some engineers, and some information. As I know, Sergej Korolev and other specialists did great analitic work, over V-2, and made their own R-1, which basicly, was Adv.V-2.
Same was with USA, where rocket Redstone, which used to be have first nuclear warhead, was made from V-2, and then, Saturn V, heavy lifter, could be considered as grand-son to V-2.