I was just thinking, if vacuum tubes had never become "obsolete" in the market. Do you think the generation of electrons to create the space charge would have advanced to some method other than thermionics, heat + chemistry? Is there any way in the science of today that an abundant quantity of electrons can be freed in a way where we could have had a tube that never "wears out"? Maybe using a small power laser in the tube? Plates, grids, beam formers all can last multiple lifetimes, the filament/cathode can't,. I just wonder if a tube that generates electrons reliably for a lifetime is possible today, but maybe wasn't in 1973 when plants started to close down.
Interesting, promising, but the device still suffers from degradation of its electron source over time like a tube. Interesting that it doesn't need a vacuum because the element distance is so small.
Everything degrades, but this is only in the early conceptual R&D stages at best.
The elements are closer together than the length of the mean free path of electrons
in air, so no vacuum is necessary. No heater, either.
The elements are closer together than the length of the mean free path of electrons
in air, so no vacuum is necessary. No heater, either.
WHY would they want to do that?
There is ample evidence for a conspiracy among lamp makers to fix operating life.
And cars. Do you remember when sparkplugs and points lasted 10k, maybe? Tires maybe 20k? Paint peeling by year 3? Falcons ate knee-joints every 15 months. I could not keep rear axle bearings in my Thunderbird: the 9-Inch axle was ample for pickup trucks and favored among drag racers, but for the '79 'Burd Ford used 5-ball bearings that I would not use in skates. When the Feds mandated warrantying 100+k mile ignitions, it was not a problem for the makers: they just made them better.
OTOH, how many tubes have you worn out? Aside from TV sets which were carefully designed minimum-cost, I don't think I have ever worn all the fuzz off a cathode. Including well-designed gear in 24/7 duty.