[sdiy] May run class again this Spring

[Scott Gravenhorst]

>On 4/12/07, Andre Majorel <aym-htnys at teaser.fr> wrote:
>> On 2007-04-12 08:50 +0000, Josh Forgione wrote:
>>
>> > Analog synthesizer building is now a very niche field.  College
>> > students deserve educational opportunities to gain skills which
>> > are relevant in the workplace.
>>
>> I suspect that anyone who studies EE in the US in 2007 is not in
>> it for the job opportunites.
>>
>> My crystal ball tells me that most EE students end up in software
>> or designing digital devices they don't particularly care about.
>> Aaron's giving his students a chance, maybe their last, to
>> associate EE with fun.

Nothing against analog designs, but I see not reason to believe that digital design
precludes fun.  I've just finished my first FPGA MIDI synth and I can tell you that
it was a gas to do and I'm motivated to do more (and I'm not being paid a single
dime to do it).  I learned, I ventured out, I tested myself, I worked hard and I
succeeded.  I don't believe that a choice of analog or digital has anything to do
with forcing one to work with "devices they don't particularly care about".  I
think it's a big mistake to believe hype about how much cash you can make doing X
or Y, that nonsense created many crappy software developers during the dot-com
boom.  The same can happen in any field.  When I was in 2nd grade, my teacher show
the class a simple complete circuit with a knife switch, a dry cell and and a light
bulb.  It was the closest thing I'd ever seen to real magic.  I was fascinated and
that's what started me.  This is the kind of discovery each person must do to find
something they really enjoy.  EE is fun for anyone who enjoys discovery, thinking,
imaginitive ideas, and hard work.  It has nothing whatever to do with whether
something works in the analog domain or the digital domain.

-- ScottG

---------------------------------------------------------

-- Someday is not on the calendar.

-- Scott Gravenhorst
-- Xilinx Spartan-3E Based Music Synthesizers
-- FatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/
-- NonFatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/