[sdiy] Death of DIY?

[Don Tillman]

   > Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 14:17:06 -0700
   > From: greg montalbano <greg.montalbano at ucop.edu>
   > 
   > Here in the US of A, we're all bred from birth by the corporations
   > to be passive consumers;  if they do their job correctly, then we
   > reach a stage where it wouldn't occur to us to even IMAGINE anything
   > other than what they offer us.... they provide the products, they set
   > the standards & fashions.

I strongly disagree.  First off, these are mostly Japanese
corporations, at least the ones making the majority of keyboard
synths, hifi gear, radios, tvs, and that sort of thing.  And secondly,
the way these corporations make money is to be really good at
providing what the consumer wants.  It turns out that the consumer
values lots of features for a minimal price and does not value
modularity, repair, tweaking, or any meaningful interaction with the
equipment.  The corporation simply reflects the market.

For an example of a case where DIY wins, just check out the guitar
players.  They're the ones hot-rodding their axes, swapping pickups,
building instruments from parts or even from scratch, and building and
tweaking stomp boxes.

  -- Don

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