Rumor has it...

[nctnico]

The consumers can also do whatever they want. They can run away, they can bash the company for being greedy assholes on forums, whatever.

When it comes to schematics/PCB design that isn't true because each package has an incompatible format. Moving from one package to another means flushing many hours of work in the libraries down the drain. If you rent package A and move the package B you have to keep paying rent for package A in order to work on your files made with package A.

[KE5FX]

The consumers can also do whatever they want. They can run away, they can bash the company for being greedy assholes on forums, whatever.

When it comes to schematics/PCB design that isn't true because each package has an incompatible format. Moving from one package to another means flushing many hours of work in the libraries down the drain. If you rent package A and move the package B you have to keep paying rent for package A in order to work on your files made with package A.

It doesn't matter how many times you point that out, people just don't think that far ahead.  Or they assume it will never be an issue for them, because of course, they're different.  The words go in one eye and out the other.  They're EEs, so of course they've never heard of SoftImage, or Plays For Sure, or Sonos, or any number of other DRM debacles where Big Brother has altered the proverbial deal.

Everybody has to learn the hard way.

[thm_w]

A Few years ago I was working in a small startup which rented its lab equipment. And, as usual for startups, there were times with no money. Guess what happened? No SA, no scope, wall warts and batteries as power supplies. No thanks, I will never rent my tools. Both Microsoft and Adobe are facing competition from FOSS. LibreOffice Calc in its most recent release is fast enough to be useful with medium sized files. GIMP has enough features and capabilities to go toe to toe with Photoshop, so it is only a matter of inertia that these companies maintain their market share.

So you can't do any meaningful work, any sort of project timeline is delayed but you should still be paid. Not sure I see the problem here (unless you are the owner of said startup).

[rx8pilot]

When it comes to schematics/PCB design that isn't true because each package has an incompatible format. Moving from one package to another means flushing many hours of work in the libraries down the drain. If you rent package A and move the package B you have to keep paying rent for package A in order to work on your files made with package A.

I just switched from Solidworks and Mastercam to Fusion360 - totally and completely different in every way. The learning curve is steep, but I weighed my options and decided it was better in the long run.

That was a decision I had to make. Not an easy one, but I had the option to jump ship and I did. None of my old work is compatible so I have to maintain an old system for as long as I need to access legacy files. It really sucks, but still a choice.

In the 90's I bailed on Avid for Final Cut Pro. A huge challenge, but better in the long run. Then bailed on Final Cut Pro in favor of Adobe Premier Pro....again - huge effort to switch, yet I did along with many others. Each time I had the option to stat with software that no longer fit my needs or jump ship.

In a perfect world - everything would be perfect and never change after it is learned. In the real world - things change.

[Cerebus]

A Few years ago I was working in a small startup which rented its lab equipment. And, as usual for startups, there were times with no money. Guess what happened? No SA, no scope, wall warts and batteries as power supplies. No thanks, I will never rent my tools. Both Microsoft and Adobe are facing competition from FOSS. LibreOffice Calc in its most recent release is fast enough to be useful with medium sized files. GIMP has enough features and capabilities to go toe to toe with Photoshop, so it is only a matter of inertia that these companies maintain their market share.

So you can't do any meaningful work, any sort of project timeline is delayed but you should still be paid. Not sure I see the problem here (unless you are the owner of said startup).

Amazingly some people go to work expecting to do some and not just sit there twiddling their thumbs all day. Whether it's a Protestant work ethic, low boredom threshold or just a wish to use one's time usefully in my experience most people hate sinecures, especially imposed ones.

[james_s]

Amazingly some people go to work expecting to do some and not just sit there twiddling their thumbs all day. Whether it's a Protestant work ethic, low boredom threshold or just a wish to use one's time usefully in my experience most people hate sinecures, especially imposed ones.

Going to work, having nothing to do but goof off and still getting paid sounds nice doesn't it? It's really not, I've been there and it was awful. The minutes crawled by at a glacial pace. I joked about bringing in one of my personal projects and working on that instead but I just couldn't bring myself to screw off *that* blatantly.Every day that no work is getting done is one day closer to the whole company folding. I ran out of things I felt like looking at on the internet, I found myself engaging in menial tasks like sweeping floor in the server room and sorting piles of random cables into boxes, it was some of the most boring and least fulfilling "work" I've ever done. Eventually the company did collapse, at least anything that could genuinely be called a company, the website remained for years as if nothing had changed. I hung on until the end out of morbid curiosity until I was finally asked if I wanted to be laid off and said yes please.

I'd rather spend my days busy working and learning new things. It's nice when I get sucked into whatever I'm doing and suddenly realize I forgot to go home half an hour ago.

[nctnico]

When it comes to schematics/PCB design that isn't true because each package has an incompatible format. Moving from one package to another means flushing many hours of work in the libraries down the drain. If you rent package A and move the package B you have to keep paying rent for package A in order to work on your files made with package A.

I just switched from Solidworks and Mastercam to Fusion360 - totally and completely different in every way. The learning curve is steep, but I weighed my options and decided it was better in the long run.

In a perfect world - everything would be perfect and never change after it is learned. In the real world - things change.

True for some part. For the past 15 to 20 years I've been using Orcad Capture for schematics and it still suits me. Unfortunately Orcad's PCB package has been discontinued and it doesn't support any 3D stuff. So that means learning a new PCB package. My point: a good choice may last you a long time and software doesn't wear down.

[thm_w]

Going to work, having nothing to do but goof off and still getting paid sounds nice doesn't it? It's really not, I've been there and it was awful. The minutes crawled by at a glacial pace. I joked about bringing in one of my personal projects and working on that instead but I just couldn't bring myself to screw off *that* blatantly. Every day that no work is getting done is one day closer to the whole company folding. I ran out of things I felt like looking at on the internet, I found myself engaging in menial tasks like sweeping floor in the server room and sorting piles of random cables into boxes, it was some of the most boring and least fulfilling "work" I've ever done. Eventually the company did collapse, at least anything that could genuinely be called a company, the website remained for years as if nothing had changed. I hung on until the end out of morbid curiosity until I was finally asked if I wanted to be laid off and said yes please.

Working on a personal project and looking at random things online are really no different in my eyes. Although it sounds like you were in IT, so the electronics aspect is not as related to your position.

I'd rather spend my days busy working and learning new things. It's nice when I get sucked into whatever I'm doing and suddenly realize I forgot to go home half an hour ago.

I agree.