[sdiy] Future SYNTH-DIY/breadboard

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Wednesday 25 May 2005 06:32 pm, R. D. Davis wrote:
> Quothe Tony Clark, from writings of Wed, May 25, 2005 at 05:15:09PM -0400:
> > > Surface mount technology is a bad thing no matter how one looks at it,
> > > except for the large corporations using it to increase their already
> > > obese profit margins.
> >
> >    Wow, there's so much negativity it's like there's this HUGE sucking
> > sound emanating from the DIY list...
>
> That sucking sound is probably emanating from the SMT components
> because they, well, they just suck... for many applications.  Yes, SMT
> makes things like hand-held cell phones possible, but not all types of
> circuitry needs to be that small or use extremely high, e.g.,
> microwave, frequencies.  In fact, the new cell phones are smaller than
> they need to be, and are becoming fragile annoyances designed for very
> little people with very tiny little fingers, who make midgets look like
> giants.
>
> No one needs a tiny synth with tiny knobs, tiny jacks, tiny switches,
> etc.

This is funny,  because I remember an article that was published way back in 
the 1960s somewhere in Popular Electronics that contained some discussion on 
the subject of "miniaturization" as it was called back then.  And the 
conclusion that they came to at that point was that the ultimate limit was 
going to be with regard to the "user interface" components.  Hell,  I don't 
even like most of the small switches and pots that have been around in these 
past few years...

> >    I've been working with SMT since 98, both as a small business and as a
> > hobbyist.  For me, SMT has been nothing but a god-send on both fronts.
>
> Please try considering those of us who are getting older, whose eyes
> aren't what they were and those of us whose hands aren't as
> still/precise as those of surgeons.

Anyway!  I'm going to have to end up building a damn robot to deal with this 
stuff!

(Please don't send me an extra copy of any replies by using "reply to all"!)