Recently, Somebody Somewhere wrote these words
> Hi Jim,
>
> I think it would be a great idea. I tried - a while ago - to put stuff
> onto my own homepage, but it's hard to do such things alone.
>
> The ChipDir itself - which brought us together here - was a great
> repository at its time, but I myself cannot even remember when I
> visited it last in order to get some information.
>
> I guess the same holds true there - it's an (mostly) impossible task
> to keep such a big project running and alive. Despite the fact that I
> am not a fan of online fori, I am convinced that much can be done in a
> Wiki environment - with many contributors. Of course it can be easily
> ruined by just a few, or put to death by no contribution at all. But
> perhaps this is something Japp should consider to keep the ChipDir
> alive...
>
> Uwe.
>
I think that's going to be a huge challenge. Wikis are so bad in my
experience that I myself will never consult one now, because I want an
answer today. Also the electronics business is changing: The days were
when anybody could design and manufacture electronics, and someone with
the backside out of his trousers (Like Clive Sinclair at the beginning)
could make a commercial success from being an electronics whizkid.
Now it's much more multinationals developing hugely complicated projects
with a colossal number of man years in them, approval after approval,
standard after standard. compatible with a, b, c, d, & e and using the
very latest kit, and ASICs. An engineer can design in these places, but
the sensible thing for a techie to do is assemble complete units
(counters, plcs, sensors, timers, even pcs) into whatever he wants. If
there isn't going to be 50,000 of them, it's no longer worth building.
If there is going to be 50k, they should be built in China. And if they
break, the parts are not on the market except in volume.
That leaves ordinary mortals looking into their misbehaving electronic
investments and wishing they could be fixed. But it's a dying art.
The techie could even go the way of the cooper, the loom tuner, the nit
picker, and other extinct trades.
--
With Best Regards,
Declan Moriarty.
--
Author: Declan Moriarty
INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fat City Hosting, San Diego, California -- http://www.fatcity.com
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