[time-nuts] Rubidium standard / MTBF

[Mike S]

At 07:56 AM 11/19/2009, Bob Camp wrote...
>A typical TV has a design goal of a > 5 year lifetime. A "premium" TV 
>has a design goal of a > 10 year lifetime. The theory is that if it 
>doesn't last that long, the customer will not buy another one from 
>your brand.

An even more extreme example might a simple automotive oil filter. 
Design life of a few hundred hours, but needs a very high MTBF, because 
if the filter fails, the engine may not be far behind.