>> except that the BIG BOOK is now a proprietary database and
>>  you are now issued a password to get to it.

> But sometimes, a resistor is just a resistor.  :)

Perhaps. I wonder how many different varieties of "10k ohm resistor"
are in the book, and how many are actually needed.  Lead times on
projects are frequently long enough to get lots of brand new parts
approved, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of resistance to adding
somewhat random passive components as well.  I'll bet our "big book"
has 10k resistors in 0603, 0805, 01206, and several different multi
resistor arrays.  Sigh.  I was a bit shocked when I looked at one of
our 32 port async cards, for instance.  It had 32 instances of a
max232 type chip, each with its own 4 or so voltage multiplying caps.
Perhaps there was a good reason.  Perhaps someone just LIKED 5V only
rs232 drivers, and it was already in the "big book" as the result of
some more appropriate product (Almost everything has a console port,
for instance.)

(Of course, the reverse situation also applies.  Being unable to
upgrade the next design from 16F84 to 16F628 just because the F84
is 'already in the book' is an example that comes to mind.)

BillW

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