[sdiy] TI to buy NatSemi!!!!!

[Scott Gravenhorst]

"David G. Dixon" <dixon at interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
>> Things change...
>
>Sorry, but I just can't leave this alone.
>
>You know what else has changed?  The ability and the desire to build things
>for oneself.  Back in the day, there was Heathkit and the AARL.  You could
>build yourself a television or a ham radio from parts you could buy at your
>local Radio Shack!  The ability to build your own stuff was a big part of
>the joy of electronics for many people. 
>
>Do you see anybody building their own plasma flat-screen or iPad?  I suppose
>you could if you were a mad genius and really, really dedicated (or crazy),
>but back in the day, building your own electronic gizmos was within the
>capability of people of normal intelligence and means!
>
>I could say more, but this short video clip I came across about the Future
>of Electronics in Australia pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter:
>
>http://www.nutsvolts.com/index.php?/blog/post/state_of_electronics_trailer

Seeing the slow but sure demise of analog parts, both in availability and in size (my
eyes aren't all that great anymore, soldering little grains of sand is just too hard), I
decided to try my hand at some DSP.  I'm not a math wizard by any stretch of imagination
and I had to learn many things along the way - and I still have much to learn.  But to be
sure, I don't have to solder anything to make a synthesizer of my own design.  Is coding
DSP systems "building things"?  It is to me.  In my opinion, if there is anything that
stands in the way of building synths, whether physical or inside a DSP chip, it is TV,
video games, social networking and other nonsense wastes of time in which so many engage.
 I can't describe how satisfying it has been to fire up a new synth I designed and hear
it sing for the first time.  Far better than any TV show, Facebook page or FPS game. 
Yes, I had to struggle with some/many of the DSP concepts I use, but I also had to
struggle just as much with analog along the way.

Analog is not the only way.  It's a good one, but is only one way.

-- ScottG
________________________________________________________________________
-- Scott Gravenhorst
-- FPGA MIDI Synthesizer Information: home1.gte.net/res0658s/FPGA_synth/
-- FatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/
-- NonFatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/
-- When the going gets tough, the tough use the command line.