22 Jun
2010
22 Jun
'10
9:19 a.m.
On 6/22/10 9:43 AM, A. Christoff Baumann wrote:
Heathkit disappeared largely because electronics (and
ham radio as well)
as a hobby has drifted out of the mainstream and into a pretty
selective niche.
Electronics parts stores in general are largely an
anachronism... even
RadioShack has been desperately trying to shake off the "back wall"
and
become
a cell phone boutique store.
This has been discussed here several times recently. You're fifteen
years too late with this complaint; Radio Shack's parts offerings did
hit rock bottom years ago, but they have gone back up considerably in
most places over the past five years. They even started selling
microcontroller stuff (Parallax) a few years ago.
Part of the problem is that the parts areas LOOK smaller now due to
having evolved from horribly inefficient pegboards to those large metal
drawers for holding their parts stocks. Less square footage, more
components...just less visible. Electronic components don't need to be
"shown off" in well-lit glass display cases, while cell phones do.
I think the reasons for this are quite complex. First
off, there's the (IMHO)
utter failure of the educational establishment to instill in youth a
desire to
tinker and experiment. This isn't a new thing:
even when I was a
teenager this was strongly discouraged, however the stakes seem to be a
lot higher with everybody "jumpy" about "security" and the like.
Yes, it's sheer insanity. Just watch the average soccer mom's eyes
open wide when they hear the evil, scary word "DEVICE". "Oh my god, a
DEVICE!!!" ...it seems to be implied that it means something bad. And
heaven help you if you use that word within five miles of an airport.
Any time one of these morons sees a piece of wire, they panic.
I don't know what the solution is. But
Heathkit's demise may in some small way have to do with the fact that electronics is
so cheap and ubiquitous in our society that it no longer has any magic. It's sad, but
in the march forever forward, where electronics are becoming increasingly complex and the
skills required to build anything of relevance increases (while the discrete components
disappear into assembled IC subsystems) it may be inevitable that the barrier for entry
becomes pretty high.
If you figure out a solution, there's an entire hobby (amateur radio) that is dying
that would love to hear your solutions.
No, the situation is nowhere near as dire as this, actually it's quite
bright. If this were ten years ago, I'd agree with you, pour you a
beer, and shed a tear, but it has all come back...and with a vengeance!
Read on.
Electronic components vendors: In 1975, we (the USA) had Radio Shack
and Lafayette, and maybe a few little regional chains. Now they number
in the thousands, and their business is booming.
Electronic kits: There are more electronic kit vendors than ever
before. Yes, the loss of Heathkit sucks, I grew up with that company
and their products. But look at what we've got now! There are so many
I can't even begin to name them...Hundreds of them, and they're growing
like weeds! One of my favorites, Spark Fun Electronics (not strictly a
kit company, but close) has experienced near-exponential growth recently
and had to move into a much larger building.
Places to do stuff: "Hacker spaces" and "maker spaces" are popping
up
all over the country, even here in the technological black hole that is
Florida there are several. I visited a VERY impressive one in Atlanta a
few months ago while on a road trip. Ten thousand square feet of pure
geeky joy. People etching PCBs, building robots, fixing things, writing
code, experimenting on solderless breadboards, restoring a Tektronix
500-series oscilloscope...I showed up there at 2AM (I was on a road
trip) and there were four people there working on projects!
"Maker" gatherings: These things get HUGE attendance, with people
building and showing off robots, homebrew computers, gadgets of every
kind, soldering classes (ahem!), etc etc etc.
Sure, nobody is messing with crystal sets like you and I did. They
were fun in our childhood days, but they aren't today, as you pointed
out. But what we've gained far, far outstrips what we've lost, IMO.
Today, there are teenagers building powered model airplanes with GPS
receivers, microcontrollers, and servos that take a programmed set of
coordinates, take off, and fly there. This is good stuff, and most of
it is being done by young(er) people.
...unless of course this is just a crotchety-old-man-fest, at which
point I'll shut up and go about my business, and tell you to "get off my
lawn!" ;)
(your mailer is sending out paragraphs as one very long line, by the way)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL