| General > General Technical Chat |
| Countless tempting projects, yet none really needed, now what? |
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| RoGeorge:
You see something interesting to learn, or to build, then search a little about it. Maybe you read an article about it, maybe simulate something, or plug a few components in a breadboard, etc., but then you realize you don't really have a use for it. Or, if you really need the device, then most probably it can be bought ready made. With more performance and for less money than your DIY. :-// Not to say that the abundance of online excellence can be a bummer. You always find pictures and videos of very elaborated projects similar with yours. The bar was already raised to the max, and you realize you will never have the time/skills/equipment to do anything like that. The result is that most of the projects die right after the research phase. Anybody else noticed such trend? |
| Kim Christensen:
That has been the general trend in electronics. As things have gotten more complex and cheaper, most of it is not even worth repairing anymore, let alone designing and building. This has effected the hobbyist world too. The motivation of being able to build something cheaper, and maybe better, than most commercial gear is long gone. Kids can no longer wow their friends with a flashing LED, DIY radio, etc. I guess if you enjoy the process of designing, building, etc, that on it's own could be motivation enough. Or maybe if you wanted something custom, unique, extra high quality, etc. I think it also comes for getting older and generally being more satisfied with what you already have. Maybe my next project should be a "Nerd Nanny AI" that blocks all IP traffic about cool projects on the internet. Then I'll be able to concentrate on my own "unique" ideas. ;D |
| Buriedcode:
Yeah, it does seem to be a growing trend - solutions looking for problems - and it's why often we see project promoted on places like hackaday that seem somewhat overkill/overengineered or not really worth it. With that said there are plenty of hobbies that lend themselves to DIY electronics - music, guitar effect pedals, synths, audio gear, RC models etc.. I have even built custom HID devices for gaming. All of these have such variation that commericial products dont' always solve the problem - but sometimes theres a half measure - buy and modify. You see a lot of the "build for the sake of building" in metrology. It's a hobby, and the product is useful, but how many different voltage standards does one need :) This is meant as no criticism, I don't need 170 different kind of LCD/plasma displays with custom drivers/controllers, but here we are. |
| RoGeorge:
Indeed, disposable electronics and high integration changed the electronics hobby a lot. Won't be long until one chip will do it all, with nothing to build, only software to reconfigure the functionality. Maybe getting a new hobby, then? :D The AI field is very effervescent right now, just that I'm not attracted to it. Something else? |
| rstofer:
In the beginning, electronics didn't even involve code. Today, many (most) projects involve some form of uC. Projects are more complex than they were in the 50's when I started playing with this stuff. Fantastic! I can substitute code for parts! It's still possible to build hardware based projects but the features list will be much shorter than the similar uC based project. I'm not sure how easy it would be to find stacked potentiometers or ganged variable capacitors. |
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