On 9/2/05, John Ferrell wrote: > I believe the problem is with the magazine industry. They are having a tough > time adapting to the competition from the internet. It is not surprising to > find them clinging to the past. There is also a problem in that many distributors have a near-useless Internet presence. Digikey and Mouser and the others do a good job of online ordering, but many distributors for more esoteric / interesting parts have a list of companies they sell for, and an email link "for more information". It's kind of intimidating when you only want 10 or so. > There is no shortage of us old guys embracing new technology as fast as we > can. There are a lot of young technicians that have not learned that today's > GeeWhiz technology is tomorrows recycles. Don't forget that GeeWhiz(tm) technology is often a long time coming - CDs are, what, 30 years old now, and MP3 was developed in the late 80s / early 90s IIRC. > I still dutifully replace the old Jameco & Digikey catalogs with the new > ones they mail me but I cannot remember the last time I ordered anything > except online. It's definitely worthwhile having the Digikey catalog around - unless you know *exactly* what you're looking for, the website is nowhere near as useful as the catalog. > I look at Linux from time to time and even give it a try. I always back away > because I really don't want to get in bed with the operating system, I just > want to use it. So far, I have not encountered anything that does not > require a great deal of effort to get "almost" running! As I've told friends, Linux is the reason I got a Mac :) I've got a Linux machine at home doing Web server and email / RSS reader duty - it's set up as an IMAP server to fetch and sort my mail, all on the server. I connect to it from any IMAP client (encrypted outside the home network) or via a Webmail interface. I have all of my email, sorted and filtered, from anywhere in the world - very convenient, and only took 2 days to set it up (I could do it in a couple hours at this point, I'd bet). That said, I've never used Linux on a desktop or notebook for more than a couple of months before I gave up. Don't even get me started on MythTV... I bought a TiVo instead. > Actually, I am almost afraid of making a phone call order for anything any > more because I may not be able to talk to someone who can communicate with > me in my native language (the American dialect of English spoken in the > South East USA). > > There are people who try to shun technology but I don't think they are > limited to any particular demographic group. > > There are times when it don't pay to be the first with things, just ask > anyone who tried Window ME... > > John Ferrell > http://DixieNC.US -- -Randy Glenn Computer Eng. and Mgt. Year IV, McMaster University Industry Liason, McMaster IEEE Student Branch randy.glenn-at-gmail.com - glennrb-at-mcmaster.ca randy.glenn-at-computer.org - randy_glenn-at-ieee.org http://www.randyglenn.ca -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist