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Subject: Re: Lurking contributions

From: "drmabuce" <drmabuce@...>
Date: 2007-01-30

--- In ComputerVoltageSources@yahoogroups.com, "djbrow54" <davebr@...>
wrote:
> I have learned that early
> expressed interest really means "maybe and ask me again later when you
> have it" and later turns into "not right now I'm too busy / broke /
> whatever".
>

well put! this is also a succinct expression of the difference between
a cottage-industry's WEB-SITE and their actual BUSINESS. My
observation is that brisk traffic on web-list is....
ummmm....'independent' of brisk business. In many cases i'd be tempted
to say the relationships is an INverse one!
;'>

> only practical implementation for the DIY community would be to do
> multiple PCBs - one for the processor and another for front panel
> mounted jacks, switches, leds, and controls.

i strongly agree with you here, Dave. Speaking only for myself, i have
no interest in anything but a processor board. i have a very
idiosyncratic interface in mind that would be of no interest to anyone
but me. i'm not even concerned with the circuits for I/O because i
will probably have to re-scale the ADCs/DACs anyway If an interface
configuration were built-in , i'd be more reluctant to invest because
it would all go to waste in my application

> This represents a
> significant investment in both time and prototype costs.
>

and again, i strongly agree that the design of two PCB's (one for the
processor, one for the interface) makes this very expensive for an
'experimenters' project.
i also think that the market has proven time & time again (going
back to the Buchla 500) that this kind of gadget is just too
'in-between' to be commercial.
As a result i've always harbored the suspicion that this idea could
end up as a doodle on a drawing board....Like Da Vinci's auger-shaped
helicopter, for a very long time , but not necessarily forever...
But my personal take is that, for the time being, it makes a better
yahoo group than a product!

FWIW,
-doc