using new technology on old machines

[Noel Chiappa]

    > From: tony duell

    > One method that works for me is that if you are buying a fairly cheap
    > part, buy 10 of them and put the rest in stock. Or more than 10 if it
    > is something really common.

I suspect a lot of us do that - that's why I have tubes of 4164's, etc, for
instance. It makes a lot of sense, because it's trivial to implement - it's
just as much work to order 10 of something, as 1.

But that model isn't really the best, because a lot of the time one winds up
needing something one doesn't already have. Which is why it's better to lay
in a diversified stock up front. E.g. in wood screws (I do a lot of work in
wood, mostly furniture), I have a fairly comprehensive collection; from #6
through #12, all the available lengths (not the very longest ones, though),
counter-sunk and round-headed, with both slot and Phillips drive.

But doing so in IC's - oi vey! Just in TTL alone, there are dozens of common
parts (hundreds, if you count the more obscure ones), and then you get into
the whole 74, 74S, 74LS, 74ALS, 74L, 74H, 74F, yadda-yadda. Of course, most
of the variants one would never need, but one can't get by with just, e.g.
LS; e.g. if I ever get my wish and wind up with a PDP-11/45, that's mostly S,
IIRC.

I wish there was some _easy_ way to lay in a stock of the most common TTL
IC's - e.g. some kind of kit one could buy - but alas, I don't know of any.
(Hence my dream of finding and acquiring someone else's collection! :-)
Suggestions for the source of such a good diversified 'starter kit' welcome...

	Noel