On 3/11/2010 2:52 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
I suspect the same is true of hardware. If you
provide it
as a kit, particulalry as a kit with SMD components, you will not get
total idiots buying it. And for something like this where the user has to
have some clue to use it, that is almost certainly a Good Thing.
I wish this were true, but sadly, I have not found it to be a fact. In
fact, I'm shying away from kits now, due to the experiences I have had:
Notice I said 'provide it as a kit', not 'provided it as a kit or ready
made'. The point being that if _only_ the kit is available, people who
want it have ot buy the kit, and they have to be clueful enough to put it
together.
* Through hole kits to make it easier for the hobbyist tends to
require more PCB space, which drives up the cost a bit (not a
major issue, but something to consider). Obviously, an SMT kit
would not suffer from this issue
I really don't see the problem with SMD assembly at home...
* If you offer kits and complete units, people see
the cost
difference, and they decide "they can do it". Then, they get it
down, it does not work, and then they take up lots of time asking
questions or trying to debug over email.
* Most people decide it's not worth the effort to solder, so they
just pay the extra anyway.
OK, I am odd, but I have avoided buying some low-production-count designs
becasue they were only avaialble ready-built. The main reason for this is
that a kit comes with dcoumentation on how to assembly it and often a
scheamtic. And with low-production devices, I can't count on the
desinger/company being around in 5 years tinme when I need to fix it. I
am going to haev to fix it myself.
Given the scheamtic and the knowledge that I put it together in the first
place, it's likely I can fix it.
-tony