By Peter Cochrane, 16 November 2005 15:45
COMMENT
Written while flying from Heathrow to Aberdeen and dispatched from Inverness via a free hotel LAN
When I was 11-years-old an illness that left me bedridden for a few weeks propelled me into electronics through the pages of a boys' own manual. In those days you could get WWII surplus radio equipment by the ton. And so I stumbled into hifi, amateur radio and radio control models with an emphasis on building it yourself - and this meant right down at the component level, winding inductors and cutting cavities.
Today I wonder that I survived this period and that I am still alive. Hardware using 300 to 1000Volts at 1.0Amp was easy to come by and I knew absolutely nothing and learnt the safety code the hard way! Gradually I became more proficient, learned a few things, attended night classes, migrated to the early transistors and found work in a radio and TV shop. This was my apprenticeship for life, the time I gained my green-fingered-ness that was to stand me in good stead for the rest of my life.
Fast-forward 40 years and we are in a world of modules - electronic Legos. In a most cases people no longer have the visual acuity and manual dexterity of our production robots to be able to build anything significant. The number of hardware-capable people has also shrunk and a rising tide of software seems to have taken over. What a different world, far more complex and apparently far more difficult!
In the midst of all this I find people now building their own PCs, PDAs, mobile phones and other systems. Despite the advantages of CAD and mass production there are still people who want something more, or different, and are prepared to get into the hardware, software and systems to make their very own customised devices. Hmm, have we been here before? I think so!
Everything from automobiles to musical instruments has trodden the same path. The mass production item does the job well enough but there are those who want to customise everything. And of course there are the small companies that will do it for you. In the automobile and hifi sectors there are a myriad of companies that produce small runs of specials.
So we might just be entering a new phase where mobiles, PDAs and laptops will come with metaphoric spoilers, lowered suspension, souped-up engines and 1 kilowatt sound systems! Now, what really intrigues me is the possibility of a new feedback loop aka Formula 1 racing style. Build the specials, experiment, invent, learn and then put it into production. It could be a new industry model, for IT at any rate!
Comments
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1. Simon Cox
I would say we are already in an F1 style of environment. New advances in PC hardware and especially software are tested out on us and we have become a throw away society. You can't repair the carbon fibre bodies of F1 cars and likewise when your bit of PC kit or mobil phone goes wrong most people throw it and get a new one.
I actually own a soldering iron but I bet very few people under 30 do.
2. Chris Gare
Well Peter, some of are still young at heart and have never given up our h/w building - we've just upped the volts to 4,500 and Amps to 2 - http://www.gare.co.uk/amplifier/index.htm ! Have you built your home PBX yet with Asterix? Chris
3. Peter Cochrane
The cost of heating up the soldering iron and messing around is usually more expensive than a replacement. And this is not toi mention that in many cases we don't have the dexterity to get in and do a fix.
I have a soldering iron too - and I now use it every 3 - 5 years...