ok ok people, I know these threads pop up too often, but this one started in
a different thread and rather than continue to hijack that one, I moved it
here.. so excUUUUUUse mEEEEEEE!

wrote in message
oups.com...
Ray:
Come on now.....it is NOT all gloom and doom.... my shop is fixing
stuff that wasn't even invented yet when I opened it in the early 70's.
DVD, CD, Projection sets, LCD computer monitors, compact stereo
systems, etc, etc. .... and of course I still have good business
with Phonograph turntables and related equipment.
Plus..... we have branched out to seek more business with the pro-audio
installation and home theatre installation areas. We also have
contracts with the local hospital, rest homes and hotels (televisions
and LCD monitors) and the local college.
Back in the 70's and 80's there was much talk of the demise of service
shops..... if you are not continually moving forward with new
technology and product training then you are going backwards.... and
eventually out of business.
electricitym
. . . . .


No, it's not all gloom and doom.. everywhere. But that's pretty much the
story here in this area of south TX. The shops TRY.. I don't know any shop
owner who wasn't ready and willing to accept the latest units in and yet..
the business just isn't there. Or at least not enough of it to sustain just
TWO shops -- 80,000 population and not even enough business for two shops?
That seems pretty gloomy to me. We also have large hospitals, hotels, a
college, etc., but that doesn't seem to be helping. Perhaps the last
fulltime shop in town will prevail. Time will tell.
Maybe there are just too many folks around here with big trucks and SUV
monstrosities that have to choose between entertainment and gas!

There's always been cynicism, but it sure seems to me that the relationships
between manufacturers and service shops (especially independents) is much
worse now than it was in the 70's and 80's (and even 90's). I don't expect
the trend to change for the better.
I'd be interested in the national statistics of folded shops in the next 5
and 10 years, after the market has been flooded with [presumably] affordable
and more reliable technologies such as OLED, PLED and the like. I wonder
how cooperative manu's will be when it comes to servicing those babies.
Hell, they'll probably make all the circuitry an integral part of the
screen, permanently bonded, so there's no choice but to replace the entire
unit with each and every failure. Wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn
they've done that.

Now, I DO see a future for high-end audio work. Until affordable, high-temp
superconductors are invented and utilized in designs whereby the consumer
can pump all the amps he wants thru a device w/o melting it, techs will
continue to see plenty of work in this area.
The trend with displays, however, is progressively lower current design,
which more often than not translates to higher reliability and greater MTBF,
and that never bodes well for servicers. This wasn't a huge problem with
technologies of the 70's, 80's, 90's, as they used much higher
voltage/current designs than the upcoming technologies.
I did notice a couple of manu's, Samsung for one, are using CRT's in some of
their HD units. Will be interesting to see how long this practice lasts.
At any rate, these represent the overwhelming minority of models, and
consequently there probably won't be enough of them in circulation to be of
great help in sustaining a service center down the road.

I was not one to sound the short-term alarm in the 70's (being rather young
at the time) or 80's. The 90's had me plenty ****ed off at several manu's,
though, and a bit more concerned about the long-term forecast. Now, IMHO,
the writing is on the wall where TV repair is concerned, particularly for
independents. Where the writing won't be is on customer checks to
servicers, as there will be progressively fewer. I'll find out whether I'm
right in say 5-7 more years if current trends continue.