LE>> Surface-mount SOIC or QFP device which is NOT programmable 
LE>> in-circuit and requires removal, EXTERNAL programming, and 
LE>> resoldering. Hardware damage.
KW> not in my book... if you can put the same component back in then there
KW> was nothing physically wrong with the component and thus physical damage
KW> did not occur... hardware damage is necessarily physical damage...
(a) Try explaining that to a user on the end of the phone, in tears because 
his/her modem won't work.
(b) Try explaining the difference (again to a normal user) between an 
exploded component that requires replacement and a deprogrammed component 
that requires /exactly/ the same process (viz. desoldering and resoldering) 
applied to it to get it working again.
You ever worked on a helpdesk? Believe me, it's SCARY 8-).
LE>> Besides, RTB for any reason is as bad as actual hardware 
LE>> damage because it leads to the same downtime.
KW> however if the user is made to realise that programs can only affect
KW> stored data in the various parts of the computer then they won't be
Look, a return to base is a return to base is a return to base. Shipping 
costs, labor costs, downtime. SAME economic cost. The difference between a 
physically destroyed component and an erased EEPROM is nothing but a semantic 
argument to Joe(oan) Q. Average.
-- Lewin A.R.W. Edwards [Team OS/2]  Tel 0412809805 * http://www.zws.com/
--- MsgedSQ/2 3.35
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