[kabdib]

Niven and Pournelle predicted unrepairability in The Mote in God's Eye -

    Renner [said] "I remembered something. Have you got your pocket
    computer?"

    "Certainly." She took it out to show him.

    "Please test it for me."

    Her face a puzzled mask, Sally drew letters on the face of the
    flat box, wiped them, scrawled a simple problem, then a complex
    one that would require the ship's computer to help. Then she
    called up an arbitrary personal data file from ship's memory. "It
    works all right."

    Renner's voice was thick with sleep. "Am I crazy, or did we watch
    the Motie take that thing apart and put it back together again?
    You know that's impossible, don't you?"

    She thought it was a joke. "No, I didn't."

    "Well, it is. Ask Dr. Horvath." Renner hung up and went back to
    sleep.

    Sally caught up with Dr. Horvath as he was turning into his cabin.
    She told him about the computer.

    "But those things are one big integrated circuit. We don't even
    try to repair them."

[starpilot]

Your quote is unreadable on mobile due to your abuse of the code tag for quoting.