Michael,

Maplin...

On Thu, 19 May 2005 19:01:12 +0100, Michael Rigby-Jones wrote:

> They are getting increasingly rubbish though.  When I started getting interested in electronics ~22 years 
ago, the Maplins catalogues were amazingly usefull, every IC they sold had a pinout and sometimes even an 
example circuit, and they concentrated on components and usefull bits and pieces rather than cheap and nasty 
car audio and PC components.

Yes indeed - my history with them goes back to when they were mail-order only, and the catalogue had amazing 
space-ship scenes on the cover.  My customer number was something like 180,000 until I lost it - now it's 4 
million-odd.  I used the catalogue as a reference document - much better than wading through books of 
datasheets trying to find the pinout of a 4066!  And which idiot decided to have the semiconductor index in 
strict alphanumeric order?  Previously they had the "base number" idea, where devices were listed by the 
numeric part of their reference, which worked well.  Now 5V regulators appear in three seperate places, under 
7805, L7805 and LM7805 - stupid!  I wonder if I should write them a "Mr.Angry" letter?

Cheers,



Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist