[sdiy] monoliths and how we got to 2001

[Don Tillman]

   From: "Goddard, Duncan" <goddard.duncan at mtvne.com>
   Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 18:45:18 -0000

   > I could never understand why it was almost twenty years before
   > such devices were in common use for this purpose- did the tube
   > manufacturers have big sicilian friends or something?

I'm pretty sure that when IC's were first available they were really,
really expensive.  And pretty much only used by NASA.

   > and the eventual shift to lsi and vlsi had a deleterious effect
   > on the uptake of electronics as a hobby by making it harder and
   > harder to service one's toys without recourse to the
   > manufacturer. 

True, but I think the real reason has more to do with the market
economics.  Customers insisted on choosing the least expensive product
with the most features -- "catalog shopping" without even seeing the
physical product.  And in that kind of market you can't afford modular
design, sockets, components that are easy to get at, or other luxuries
that allow repair.

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don at till.com
http://www.till.com