Hi Tim!

I am also a teen (19) hobbyist/student. Its been a while since the subject
of age came up here,but I'd be interested to see how many of us there are
on the list.

I also use a fairly large number of free samples. I don't see how one could
label it as lying,unless the question is specifically asked "How many do
you expect to use?" and I were to reply with a very large number. In fact,
I usually inform them that I am an engineering student. I'm not sure how
much more ground that gains me versus a hobbyist.

I feel very strongly that it is beneficial to a company to send free
samples to people like us. As you say, you might come up with a product one
day that you wish to market,and you are more likely to use their parts in
it. In addition, you may decide to become an engineer,in which case your
familiarity with their products is a clear advantage to them.

Sean


At 05:12 PM 8/23/99 -0700, you wrote:
>This brings up an interesting question... I'm just a teen (17) hobbyist
>with no big company and no desires for 1,000,000+ parts. I've ordered
>numerous samples from Maxim, Nat'l Semi, and TI. I was told by someone
>that I'm lying in a way because I wouldn't be purchasing mass amounts of
>these parts. So I ask..is it wrong? What happens if I invent something
>using one of these parts and I need more and more of 'em? Speaking of
>which, I ordered a sample of TI's TLC0831 -- it's an 8-bit A/D
>Converter. Well, I used that to write a magazine article (It'll be in
>Nuts & Volts), so in the long run, this will boost the (depending on how
>many readers there are) demand for this particular chip. Actually, Nat'l
>Semi. makes the same chip -- ADC0831 which is more available.
>
>A thought to ponder,
>
>Tim Hamel

|
| Sean Breheny
| Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM
| Electrical Engineering Student
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