Why DIY? (was Re: [sdiy] Another new hard to find part....)

[The Peasant]

> > > I don't
> > > personally feel like I want to be bothered with tubes any more.
> 
> > Good, then maybe you can understand how I "don't personally feel like I
> > want to be bothered with computers any more".
> 
> Sure,  I've felt that way at times.  :-)  But I do continue,  finding them 
> just too useful for what I want to do here.  Please don't take my comment as 
> being disparaging,  it wasn't meant that way.

No, I didn't take it that way. :-) You seem to prefer software DIY and I seem 
to prefer hardware DIY for basically the very same reasons: personal preference.

When I first got a computer, I was very excited by it's potential, and for a 
while it seemed like hardware really wasn't that relevant anymore. After 
spending a year or so just playing with software, I was feeling less and less 
satisfied with what I could do with a computer, I was starting to reach it's 
limits. I eventually got to the point where the hardware again became more 
interesting and rewarding to work with. 

IMO computers seem to have become bogged down in bloatware and complex 
technical details, which has caused their great potential to be seriously 
compromised. The only way to avoid this is to become an expert, immerse youself 
in the software, and fix it yourself by writing your own programs. But I don't 
have time for that, I really want a computer that I can just switch on and 
*effortlessly* send emails, design pcbs, create graphics, and maybe design 
synths. Having to fight viruses, reload programs, search for drivers, and 
upgrade programs that work just fine now because somebody wants to sell me a 
new one just does not work for me. I really feel that it is long past time to 
invent a totally new, modern, optimised computer platform, instead of just 
bolting more crap on to the same old Mac/PC platforms. But of course this will 
not happen, too many mainstream users are dedicated to the old hypercorporate 
bloated crap system.
 
> one of the reasons I have a problem with it,
> as 
> the "physical presensce" of what I've got now occupies way too much of this 
> room,  the hallway in front of my bookshelves,  and most of a 10x20 storage 
> unit!  :-)

Well, as a certified packrat and junk collector, I think that that is actually 
a GOOD thing ;-)=  Nothing impresses me more than a great pile of interesting 
hardware!
 
> I also find it a bit of a 
> hassle.  And the bigger and more complicated the project is,  the more of a 
> hassle I find it.  Maybe that'll change,  I dunno -- maybe part of it is me 
> not having a real work area to do stuff in at this point in time,  and for 
> the past several years.  We'll see.
 
Hmmm, if you see hardware construction as a "hassle", then you cannot be a true 
DIYer.  ;-)=   The physical construction is almost more fun than using the 
completed project for me.

Take care,
Doug
______________________
The Electronic Peasant

www.electronicpeasant.com