Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Old August 4th 13, 03:21 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Aug 2013
Posts: 35
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

On 2013-07-28 18:56:37 +0000, extra class said:

3. Gen Xers have not interest or desire in dyi projects


Considering that we Gen Xers are responsible for everything from the
Maker movement to creating affordable 3D printing machines, I think
you're way off base here.

  #2   Report Post  
Old August 4th 13, 08:03 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Mar 2008
Posts: 618
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

On Sat, 3 Aug 2013, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

On 2013-07-28 18:56:37 +0000, extra class said:

3. Gen Xers have not interest or desire in dyi projects


Considering that we Gen Xers are responsible for everything from the Maker
movement to creating affordable 3D printing machines, I think you're way off
base here.


The "Maker Movement" is hype, it rides on the people who've always been
interested in building things. Since the magazine hasnt't been around a
decade, there hasn't been enough time for many to start from point zero
and get good enough by now, so it rests on the existing hobbyists.

A 3D "printer" is interesting, but once the hype disappears, what's the
point? I rarely think "I wish I could make an exact copy of that plastic
piece". I have other ways to make pieces i need, or make do. The field
is just about plastic now, so it's not like you can make something really
signficiant. The notion of making a gun out of plastic, not only is that
not going to stand up that well after much use, but one could always make
some sort of gun out of bits and pieces, or so I gather.

3D printing is another dumbing down. Yes, it will be valuable to some,
but once the masses get their hands on it, they will simply let other
people create the parts, and it will just be a matter of "printing" them
at their house. No skill required.

And like I said, that's some of the hype of the maker movement, more
people can follow instructions, but it doesn't raise them up.

I've been going through old magazines, a local bookstore having found a
stash of them. The skill level to build the projects was much higher than
in "Make", but it was a whole wide field. "Build a two man sub for about
$400" says an article in Popular Science from about 1968. YOu can't tell
me the kids have invented something new when building things had such a
large infrastructure decades ago. And it wasn't just Popular Science (and
it's projects and tips), it was Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated,
Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics, Electronics Illustrated,
Elementary Electronics, Science and Mechanichs, endless annuals and
semiannuals like that one I found a few years ago about prospecting for
uranium and "Communciation WOrld" a quarterly that carried White's Radio
Log forty years ago, QST, 73, CQ, Ham Radio and some glorified newsletters
dedciated to niche amateur radio topics like RTTY and VHF. The astronomy
magazines that often included projects about building telescopes or
accessories. Woodworking magazines and model railroad magazines. The
magazines were endless, and they all had projects you could learn from,
projects you could build.

Michael

  #3   Report Post  
Old August 4th 13, 10:06 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,217
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

On Sunday, August 4, 2013 2:03:43 PM UTC-5, Michael Black wrote:
On Sat, 3 Aug 2013, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:



On 2013-07-28 18:56:37 +0000, extra class said:




3. Gen Xers have not interest or desire in dyi projects




Considering that we Gen Xers are responsible for everything from the Maker


movement to creating affordable 3D printing machines, I think you're way off


base here.






The "Maker Movement" is hype, it rides on the people who've always been

interested in building things. Since the magazine hasnt't been around a

decade, there hasn't been enough time for many to start from point zero

and get good enough by now, so it rests on the existing hobbyists.



A 3D "printer" is interesting, but once the hype disappears, what's the

point? I rarely think "I wish I could make an exact copy of that plastic

piece". I have other ways to make pieces i need, or make do. The field

is just about plastic now, so it's not like you can make something really

signficiant. The notion of making a gun out of plastic, not only is that

not going to stand up that well after much use, but one could always make

some sort of gun out of bits and pieces, or so I gather.



3D printing is another dumbing down. Yes, it will be valuable to some,

but once the masses get their hands on it, they will simply let other

people create the parts, and it will just be a matter of "printing" them

at their house. No skill required.



And like I said, that's some of the hype of the maker movement, more

people can follow instructions, but it doesn't raise them up.



I've been going through old magazines, a local bookstore having found a

stash of them. The skill level to build the projects was much higher than

in "Make", but it was a whole wide field. "Build a two man sub for about

$400" says an article in Popular Science from about 1968. YOu can't tell

me the kids have invented something new when building things had such a

large infrastructure decades ago. And it wasn't just Popular Science (and

it's projects and tips), it was Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated,

Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics, Electronics Illustrated,

Elementary Electronics, Science and Mechanichs, endless annuals and

semiannuals like that one I found a few years ago about prospecting for

uranium and "Communciation WOrld" a quarterly that carried White's Radio

Log forty years ago, QST, 73, CQ, Ham Radio and some glorified newsletters

dedciated to niche amateur radio topics like RTTY and VHF. The astronomy

magazines that often included projects about building telescopes or

accessories. Woodworking magazines and model railroad magazines. The

magazines were endless, and they all had projects you could learn from,

projects you could build.



Michael


A guy in New Zealand is using his 3D printer to build an Aston Martin car.
  #4   Report Post  
Old August 4th 13, 10:22 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Apr 2013
Posts: 244
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times



DhiaDuit wrote:

On Sunday, August 4, 2013 2:03:43 PM UTC-5, Michael Black wrote:
On Sat, 3 Aug 2013, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:



On 2013-07-28 18:56:37 +0000, extra class said:




3. Gen Xers have not interest or desire in dyi projects




Considering that we Gen Xers are responsible for everything from the Maker


movement to creating affordable 3D printing machines, I think you're way off


base here.






The "Maker Movement" is hype, it rides on the people who've always been

interested in building things. Since the magazine hasnt't been around a

decade, there hasn't been enough time for many to start from point zero

and get good enough by now, so it rests on the existing hobbyists.



A 3D "printer" is interesting, but once the hype disappears, what's the

point? I rarely think "I wish I could make an exact copy of that plastic

piece". I have other ways to make pieces i need, or make do. The field

is just about plastic now, so it's not like you can make something really

signficiant. The notion of making a gun out of plastic, not only is that

not going to stand up that well after much use, but one could always make

some sort of gun out of bits and pieces, or so I gather.



3D printing is another dumbing down. Yes, it will be valuable to some,

but once the masses get their hands on it, they will simply let other

people create the parts, and it will just be a matter of "printing" them

at their house. No skill required.



And like I said, that's some of the hype of the maker movement, more

people can follow instructions, but it doesn't raise them up.



I've been going through old magazines, a local bookstore having found a

stash of them. The skill level to build the projects was much higher than

in "Make", but it was a whole wide field. "Build a two man sub for about

$400" says an article in Popular Science from about 1968. YOu can't tell

me the kids have invented something new when building things had such a

large infrastructure decades ago. And it wasn't just Popular Science (and

it's projects and tips), it was Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated,

Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics, Electronics Illustrated,

Elementary Electronics, Science and Mechanichs, endless annuals and

semiannuals like that one I found a few years ago about prospecting for

uranium and "Communciation WOrld" a quarterly that carried White's Radio

Log forty years ago, QST, 73, CQ, Ham Radio and some glorified newsletters

dedciated to niche amateur radio topics like RTTY and VHF. The astronomy

magazines that often included projects about building telescopes or

accessories. Woodworking magazines and model railroad magazines. The

magazines were endless, and they all had projects you could learn from,

projects you could build.



Michael


A guy in New Zealand is using his 3D printer to build an Aston Martin car.


A Revell model on steroids?


  #5   Report Post  
Old August 5th 13, 03:20 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Sep 2012
Posts: 327
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

On 08/04/2013 12:03 PM, Michael Black wrote:
On Sat, 3 Aug 2013, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

On 2013-07-28 18:56:37 +0000, extra class said:

3. Gen Xers have not interest or desire in dyi projects


Considering that we Gen Xers are responsible for everything from the
Maker movement to creating affordable 3D printing machines, I think
you're way off base here.


The "Maker Movement" is hype, it rides on the people who've always been
interested in building things. Since the magazine hasnt't been around a
decade, there hasn't been enough time for many to start from point zero
and get good enough by now, so it rests on the existing hobbyists.

A 3D "printer" is interesting, but once the hype disappears, what's the
point? I rarely think "I wish I could make an exact copy of that
plastic piece". I have other ways to make pieces i need, or make do.
The field is just about plastic now, so it's not like you can make
something really signficiant. The notion of making a gun out of
plastic, not only is that not going to stand up that well after much
use, but one could always make some sort of gun out of bits and pieces,
or so I gather.

3D printing is another dumbing down. Yes, it will be valuable to some,
but once the masses get their hands on it, they will simply let other
people create the parts, and it will just be a matter of "printing" them
at their house. No skill required.

And like I said, that's some of the hype of the maker movement, more
people can follow instructions, but it doesn't raise them up.

I've been going through old magazines, a local bookstore having found a
stash of them. The skill level to build the projects was much higher
than in "Make", but it was a whole wide field. "Build a two man sub for
about $400" says an article in Popular Science from about 1968. YOu
can't tell me the kids have invented something new when building things
had such a large infrastructure decades ago. And it wasn't just Popular
Science (and it's projects and tips), it was Popular Mechanics, Mechanix
Illustrated, Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics, Electronics
Illustrated, Elementary Electronics, Science and Mechanichs, endless
annuals and semiannuals like that one I found a few years ago about
prospecting for uranium and "Communciation WOrld" a quarterly that
carried White's Radio Log forty years ago, QST, 73, CQ, Ham Radio and
some glorified newsletters dedciated to niche amateur radio topics like
RTTY and VHF. The astronomy magazines that often included projects
about building telescopes or accessories. Woodworking magazines and
model railroad magazines. The magazines were endless, and they all had
projects you could learn from, projects you could build.

Michael

Get off my lawn!


  #6   Report Post  
Old August 5th 13, 06:04 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Aug 2012
Posts: 40
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times



"Hils" wrote in message ...


People generally have become users not makers. I sometimes feel an
anachronism.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chin up. We anachronisms will be able to pick up the pieces when it all
(inevitably) comes tumbling down.

  #7   Report Post  
Old August 5th 13, 03:14 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Mar 2010
Posts: 665
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times




"Hils" wrote in message ...


I sometimes feel an anachronism.



The last time I did, I got my face slapped.





  #8   Report Post  
Old August 5th 13, 03:23 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Sep 2012
Posts: 327
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

On 08/05/2013 07:14 AM, D. Peter Maus wrote:



"Hils" wrote in message ...


I sometimes feel an anachronism.



The last time I did, I got my face slapped.





He made a funny!
  #9   Report Post  
Old August 5th 13, 06:37 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: May 2012
Posts: 341
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

On Sunday, August 4, 2013 5:45:44 PM UTC-4, Hils wrote:
On 2013-08-04 20:03, Michael Black wrote:

And like I said, that's some of the hype of the maker movement, more


people can follow instructions, but it doesn't raise them up.




I've been going through old magazines, a local bookstore having found a


stash of them. The skill level to build the projects was much higher


than in "Make", but it was a whole wide field. "Build a two man sub for


about $400" says an article in Popular Science from about 1968. YOu


can't tell me the kids have invented something new when building things


had such a large infrastructure decades ago.




My father had been a mechanical engineer during WW2, and my older

brother's first jobs had been in engineering and later aerospace. My

father started teaching me maths and engineering when I was about four,

but I think he became rather disillusioned when I started school and

they insisted on teaching me their curriculum at their speed. Still,

between them they'd taught me to solder before I left primary school,

and I'd been repairing radio receivers for years before I eventually got

an amateur radio licence.



My uncles seemed to be forever discussing engines and how to get the

best performance from them. My brother bought Practical Wireless and

Practical Electronics, and occasionally Short Wave Magazine and Wireless

World, I remember one PE project that stuck in my mind was a home-made EEG.



The young people closest to me now have piano lessons, violin lessons,

ballet, yoga, rugby and cricket lessons, but they're learning no

practical skills because their parents (about the same age as me) have

almost none themselves. My mother's sewing machine rarely seemed to stop

working; their mother buys everything off-the-shelf and replaces rather

than repairs. Their father collects electric guitars, but he pays a

technician to modify and repair them and refuses all my attempts to

teach him basic electronics and soldering. When his electronic car key

stopped working recently he paid £200 for a replacement.



People generally have become users not makers. I sometimes feel an

anachronism.


This is probably the biggest problem in most advanced countries today- young people cannot do /make anything . Very disturbing, to say the least...
  #10   Report Post  
Old August 5th 13, 07:09 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jun 2006
Posts: 487
Default It's all over for Monitoring Times

wrote:

This is probably the biggest problem in most advanced countries today-
young people cannot do /make anything . Very disturbing, to say the least...


It's not just young people. Once the Apollo program was canceled NASA,
and the entire aerospace industry started to fold. By the 1980's there
no longer existed in the US the capability of putting another man on
the moon.

Now, the US has no capability of launching a person into orbit and have
to rely on the Soviets ^H^H^H^H^H Russian Federation to do so.

There still is the capability of using a missile to launch a satellite,
but the trick of using the space shuttle to catch one, and bring it
back for repair is done.

Along with this decline the 1959 rush to get everyone in the US a college
education, along with the cheap student loans, subsidized tution and
government funded expansion of colleges and universities is gone.

The only thing that is left is the much more competivie admission polices
and the restuctured college boards.

Around the turn of the century, the tests were "re-normed" to lower the
standards (raise the scores by 100 points on each test). That did not
do very well, so an essay was added. The thing about essays is that
they are all scored by people and are very culture dependent.

So a mathematical genius with communications issues will fail misserably,
along with a child who has had a different education than what they
are looking for.

But don't lose hope, things have changed. Children no longer live in isolation
with only newspapers to find out what has happened. As my parents learned
about the world via radio, I learned via television, my children learn
through the internet.

My oldest son does not live with me, he's married and off with his own
family, so I don't keep track of him. He is a "world class" (i.e. published)
expert in data visualization, something did not exist on the TTY that I
had in my bedroom (with modem) in high school.

His brothers have high speed internet, cellular phones, pocket devices
(both have iPods touch, one has an android phone, the other an android
tablet), and see the world a lot differently than we did.

When I was a teenager, you could feed a family of 6 at the local burger
joint for the cost of a one minute phone call between New York and LA.

We all have unlimited cellular plans with international calling in 26
countries and they use text voice chat everyday to communicate with
people around the world. The only continent they don't regularly
communicate with is Antartica.

Making things is a problem, yes, they have no interest in what we
called "shop". I had wood, metal, ceramic, and auto in high school, I did
not have electrical shop so I went into computers instead of becoming a
ham radio operator, something I did in my 40's.

We shall see what happens as 3d printers are coming down in price, and
I think all the stuff they used to make from Legos, paper and scotch tape
will in a few years be made on them.

Eventually they will design things on the computer, print them out
in plastic on their 3d printer and have them made in metal if needed.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379



Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Monitoring Times Magazine reports on Omega One Radio...Proves Why Monitoring Times Is A Less-Than-Accurate News Source For Radio Hobbyists [email protected] General 4 November 6th 06 11:07 PM
Monitoring Times Magazine reports on Omega One Radio...Proves Why Monitoring Times Is A Less-Than-Accurate News Source For Radio Hobbyists [email protected] Policy 4 November 6th 06 11:07 PM
Monitoring Times Scott Nelson Scanner 4 October 4th 05 12:34 AM
Monitoring Times Scott Nelson Shortwave 0 September 10th 05 02:02 AM
Monitoring Times Scott Nelson Swap 0 September 10th 05 02:01 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:43 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2025 RadioBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Radio"

 

Copyright © 2017