tag 标签: hobbyist

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  • 热度 18
    2013-6-27 18:33
    1456 次阅读|
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    Like me, my chum Rick Curl is a collector of the weird and wonderful when it comes to electronics in general and gizmos and gadgets in particular (unlike me, Rick can usually get them to work). Every month or so, Rick comes up to see me to pick up circuit boards and suchlike, in which case he will drop into my office to say "Hi" and to delight me with some electronic doodad he's run across. On his most recent trip, Rick brought a scrapbook that was owned by his Grandfather. Peering into this scrapbook is like looking through a window into the past:   The entire scrapbook is filled with newspaper cuttings from the Birmingham News (he's from Birmingham, Alabama). And not just any old cuttings about how to fry your grits or what hats men are wearing this season – these cuttings were all electronics-related. The first one I glanced at was copyright 1922:   Remember that these are from the regular daily newspaper, but they aren't trivial – they're more at the level you would expect to see in an electronics hobbyist magazine circa the 1950s and 1960s.   It makes you think. In those days, electronic systems like radios were few and far between – the fact that they were rudimentary by today's standards doesn't mean they were easy to understand – but average folks were gorging themselves on these articles (the paper wouldn't have published them if there wasn't an audience). By comparison, today electronics pervades the fabric of our lives, but you wouldn't expect to see any form of "how it works" article in a newspaper because so few folks would be interested. Truth to tell, I'm not sure what to conclude about all this – what do you think?  
  • 热度 14
    2012-1-30 20:32
    2207 次阅读|
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    At the age of 95, Norman Edmund passed away last January 16, but the news received very little attention; you can read a nice Wall Street Journal remembrance here . Some of you are asking: "who was he, anyway?" For many years, Edmund Scientific was the best-known supplier of lenses, optical filters, polarizers, motors, switches, gears, small fixtures and tools, and all sorts of electromechanical items and gadgets to the amateur science experimenter/hobbyist (as well as government agencies, such as NASA). They accepted one-off, small orders in addition to those of the "big boys." Getting his catalogue in the mail was always a joy, just thumbing through the pages to see what he had—and they sent the catalogue to anyone year after year, even if you never bought anything. Going through it page-by-page was a way to, at least vicariously; and to feel like a scientist and engineer, and on the cheap, until you had saved up enough money to fulfil your small-scale "must have" aspiration. His passing made me think of the world of the amateur experimentation and project-building years ago versus today. Some will those say were the good old days: you could actually handle the electronic parts (and you could strip them from old TVs, too), you didn't need development systems, and things were more tangible in various ways. You didn't need a microscope or special oven to solder components to PC boards. In addition to project-oriented publications such as Popular Electronics and its rivals, even the prestigious Scientific American had a popular monthly "Amateur Scientist" column (long-since discontinued), which presented electronic and mechanical projects that were non-trivial but very buildable—a typical project was a highly sensitive seismograph built from easily obtained parts. But were those really such "good old days"? Today's DIY folks have easy access to online search and sources with quick delivery; rapid prototyping machines and small machining centres; Lego Mindstorms; customisable, software-driven subassemblies (such as motor and controls; high-performance servos and controllers; wired and wireless communication links; displays and keyboards; and much more. All of these can be tied together withÿpowerful, often freeÿtools, apps, operating systems, and development systems that run on PCs, tablets, or even smart phones. For ideas, plans, and tutorials, there are countless user groups, informal forums, and blogs, as well as more formal sources such as data sheets,ÿor Circuit Cellar and Maker Faire/Make. So, is hobbyist and experimenter DIY situation better or worse than back then? I'd say it is both, and certainly it is very different. As with most things in life, what you get out of it depends on what you are willing and able to put into it. What's your view on the past-versus-present DIY situation?ÿ