[time-nuts] modern electronics education/jobs (was:

Bob Camp kb8tq at n1k.org
Thu Nov 12 19:12:21 EST 2015


Hi

Indeed there is a bit of a shift in focus that has gone on. Look at a “kid” in the 
1960’s and the same today: 

In the 60’s stuff like radios were the tech target of choice. Today it’s servers and 
game computers. No less passion, no less craziness. A different target. 

Today a *lot* of time gets devoted to the internet and video games. In the 60’s 
the focus rarely included either one. Stuff like Ham radio was bigger then. 

In the 60’s if you wanted a this or a that, you grabbed a handful of parts and a 
soldering iron. Today, you grab a compiler or an Arduino shield. (Try hand soldering
a BGA). 

In the 60’s stuff like Heathkits were the low cost leader for this and that. Today there
is simply no way for a kit to compete with a mass produced item. 

In the 60’s we were all going to be wiped out by atomic disaster. Today it’s a bunch of 
guys with IED’s. (Some things never change). 

In the 60’s the furthest you could go in math at most high schools was about 2 years
short of what you can hit these days. 

In the 60’s the idea of a high school student heading off to another continent on a 
multi week scholarship program … not so much. These days it’s common enough 
that I know people who have done it (CERN no less). 

Yes, a lot’s changed. Not all of it is for the worse.

Bob





> On Nov 12, 2015, at 4:01 PM, William Schrempp <bill_schrempp at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Interesting discussion! How much is this the familiar spectacle of old coots
> (I am one of them) harrumphing about the younger generation and how things
> are now going to hell? And how much is it a well-justified lament and elegy
> over a true golden age and how its important and honorable skills are now
> being disvalued and forgotten? I certainly hear concerns in many quarters
> about how technology is dumbing us down. The FAA is said to be worried about
> commercial pilots who can barely hand-fly the airplane whose Flight Director
> has failed. I hear old machinists complaining about new machinists who can't
> drill a hole if the drill-press isn't computer-controlled. And in my work,
> nurse education, I see students who can't be bothered to learn how to take a
> manual blood-pressure, because a machine can now do it (sort of). Much to
> ponder here. . . .
> 
> 
> 
> Bill Schrempp
> 
> 
> 
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