Yes, the young deserve a better future--one only has to hear the past to be
reminded of that...

Cheaper is better? Yes and no. If it means a superior product and more
affordable and provides the means of putting more radios into more
hands--yes, quite an improvement I would say...

"Planned obsolescence", well, that is one way to look at it--the car
replacing the horse and buggy is another....

Or, you mean we have the technology right now to build and market the
processor we will be using in 10 years? 5 years? 3 years? I think
not--this world is changing much faster than just a decade ago, before this
year has ended--faster yet....

Somehow, the point is being missed, providing such a platform "empowers"
many more minds to contribute... that is really what the IBM clone and
standard case/power supply did--otherwise, there was/is the Mac... ten
years ago I used a 486-100 Mhz, the Pentiums were still pretty new and I had
not upgraded yet, today a 3+ Ghz machine--I think you give "them" far too
much credit if you think that was "planned obsolescence", however, the
faster machine was indeed planned...

If your argument is that I can open the case of my transceiver and start
hacking away--well, I guess I could--but, much better if it were designed so
that the changes were not permanent, could be revoked, or could be changed
again, and back, and quickly...

But, I do keep getting a clearer and clearer answer to why there has been no
progress...

How many here are younger than I? Younger than 40? Younger than 30?
Younger than 20? How many here ask "Why not?" as opposed to "Why?"
Etc...

You know, such an idea is NOT revolutionary, did you notice I really mocked
"innovation" in the first reference?... it isn't innovation really, it is
leaving the stone age after watching others drive by in cars, for years!

This article, over a year old even makes note of similar views...
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/05/17/1/?nc=1

What do the younger guys here think? Or, has he already spoken?

Regards,
John


--
When Viagra fails to work--you are DOOMED!!!

wrote in message
oups.com...
| From: "John Smith" on Sun,May 8 2005 1:39 pm
|
| Exactly my point....
|
| We break into two groups of thought here...
|
| ...which seems to be YOUR whole point... :-)
|
| Halt at this point, and lay all plans on that halting (and, if ALL the
|
| others don't agree--be bypassed anyway)...
|
| Nihilism. Tsk, tsk...
|
| Or, stay with the pack, realizing if that day ever comes (technology
| ceases
| to innovate/obsolete)--we will regret it...
|
| What "pack?" What "regrets?" What "ceasing?!?"
|
| Progress, obsolete equip., is the most desirable thing I can imagine!
| It is
| a given, not all will agree... Indeed, at 52 years of age, my place
| in the
| "scope of the world" is becomming smaller--it only gets worse from now
| on--I
| am not ready to quit and attempt to force others to that "quitting"
| with
| me...
|
| Tsk. Then your card doesn't seem to be plugged in to
| the right slot. I have 20 years on you and began in
| HF radio communications 52 years ago. What you have to
| understand is that EVERYTHING can be made "obsolete"
| in the marketplace...HF is NOT used nearly as much for
| communications now as back a half century ago. So, you
| are "suddenly realizing" your "place in the world" is
| getting smaller? Pass me your TS card and I'll punch it.
|
| When the "Dick Tracy Wrist Radio" is finally designed and
| implemented--perhaps there will be a "death of homebrewers" (I myself
| am NOT
| much of a 'watchbuilder')--but until then we can have fun!
|
| I'm wearing one right now. Made by La Crosse. Cost all
| of $30 with shipping. "Tunes in" every night to WWVB
| and sets itself to the correct time from a kilomile away,
| even adjusts for Daylight Savings time. shrug
|
| I'm not sure what everyone is talking about in this thread
| but, like Roy and a few others, I've seen some innovative
| (and sometimes inventive) work in the many and various
| disciplines of "radio" and electronics in the past half
| century.
|
| You want "modularity" a la a PC? WHY?!? Because it is
| "familiar?" Because it is "cheap?" Here's a clue: This
| newsgroup is NOT a "production design and marketing
| newsgroup." It isn't a political science discussion
| place to whine and moan over some middle-aged anguish
| angst attack.
|
| MODULARITY has been going ON in electronics ALL OVER
| since the designers stopped trying to use transistors as
| if they were vacuum tubes. I have a nicely working Icom
| R-70. It is VERY modular, built NOTHING like what a PC
| is, NOR SHOULD IT BE. A cast frame and cover that has
| a rectangular box form...for convenience on a desk ...but
| everything inside is MODULAR, grouped to take different
| boards for different models, different functions. Those
| MODULES are mostly soldered together, those MODULES
| "sitting" in unlikely positions within that box. I have
| another receiver, a National NC-57, all tubes, all boat-
| anchor, purchased in 1948 with my own money (about $95)
| and it works, to be polite, like BADLY in comparison.
|
| Icom has done the MODULAR thing, so has Yaesu, and
| Kenwood, and Collins Radio, and even Heathkit. All did
| it DIFFERENTLY than any IBM-clone PC. I think ALL the
| "radio" makers have done things differently AND done
| the MODULARLY...even those that had only ONE module.
|
| On the other hand, I'm typing away at a "slow" PC which
| has a processor chugging away at 2.4 GIGAHertz with
| memory access rates up in the 100 MEGAHertz range. Now,
| from what I've learned and experienced, such frequencies
| ARE RADIO. With newer PCs the memory access rates go
| above 200 MHz...and the generated RFI is LESS than my
| first "powerful" PC with a 20 MHz clock. Why? Better
| IC transistor junctions taking LESS operating power.
| MUCH LESS. Less power in those state transitions, ergo
| less radiated stray RF. Three thousand cheers for that!
| I'm looking at an LCD flat screen monitor which is far
| better to watch than the old CRT "monitor" and has much
| less RFI than that CRT.
|
| I passed 52 some time ago, had maybe 15 minutes of
| middle-age angst/worry/regret/etc., shrugged my
| shoulders and carried on. There's way TOO MUCH delight
| and wonder of all the new things coming out, the
| wonderful new (some marvelous improvements on the old)
| components, fantastic circuit and system simulation for
| "breadboard" trials, all sorts of SOC (systems on a
| chip) by mail-order from dozens of vendors. It's a
| marvelous fairyland chock full of goodies to use in
| all kinds of hobby construction in new and different
| ways. Why sit around and contemplate radio navels
| and make noises of badness or arouse controversy to
| get your anonymous name "known" in a newsgroup?
|
| A very long time ago I learned a truism: Electrons,
| fields, and waves don't give a @#$%!!! what humans
| think/feel/emote-about. They work by THEIR laws,
| NOT by some emotional advertising copy or glossy
| looking shelf items nor by the "reviews" in hobby
| publications nor by all the cussing at them by
| builders who don't know what they should be doing.
|
| Having said that, I'm going to continue putting
| together an EPROM burner so that I can complete a
| MODULAR SW BC receiver that is single-conversion
| with a 21.4 MHz crystal-filtered IF and has a PLL
| for the LO. "Auto-bandswitching" just for those
| SW BC bands yet the LO tuning range is continuous.
| It's in a little BOX made of double-sided PCB
| stock, 4" x 8" x 8" in size. Not one microprocessor
| in it...done that way on purpose. Could have been
| done a decade ago with nearly the same parts.
|
| There's PROGRESS all over the place. If one keeps
| one's eyes open. shrug
|
|
|