Oscilloscope

Today I was reading an article on latest trends in oscilloscopes(OS) with state of the art foot prints & multiple functionality's. I still remember _ , In my college they used to give us one mean looking, hefty, difficult to carry around OS to carry out our electronics experiment . One OS was assigned for 4 students who were instructed to handle the scopes as delicately as possible. We were supposed to get a special permission from the instructor to change parameters in OS while doing the expts. In case of any damage the entire batch had to pay for the replacement of OS. Despite our best efforts on handling, our batch mate managed to push off the OS ( of course unknowingly) from the table. I still wonder " How did she manage to do that?". Fortunately for us when the instructor (with ashen white face appeared as if he had a shock frm 1000MV source) came to inspect the damage the OS worked very well. As soon as he left the table the OS ended up with fumes & sparks which showed no signs of recovery. However we escaped from paying the demurrage charges.