I imagine it has something to do with the inability to use automation for 
filling the orders. 

Amazon.com can use barcodes to easily identify whatever you order. Their 
warehouse is almost entirely automated. Robots pick the items from the 
shelves and bring them to the conveyer for packing and shipping. A 
shipping label is printed (based on your web order), and there is hardly a 
need for a human....

That's great when ordering DVDs and junk from Amazon, but how do you 
electronically identify one 2.2uf capacitor? It's too small for a barcode 
or RFID. You need a human to pick it out. Since the caps probably come 
from the manufacturer in bulk, you will need to separate them from machine 
strips. Well, since you have a human doing this work, there is no benefit 
to having all your inventory listed online. You would have to manually 
count the items when they arrive anyway.

Until someone uses a quantum molecular inventory system, I think 
electronics parts suppliers are going to be doing business over the phone 
instead of the web.


On 02/09/05 12:51 -0500, digitaladdictions wrote:
>      Is it just me or does it seem the electronics/hardware community
> really is behind the times when it comes to modern computer
> technology.  Perhaps I am a bit biased as I have always been more a
> computer hacker than hardware hacker and probably more on the bleeding
> edge than normal but it seems that hardware people are behind the norm
> from even a non technical person standpoint.
>  
>      A couple recent observations have resulted in this opinion. First
> it seems that a vast majority of the hobbyist resources and projects
> online still are written for windows 9x. Admittedly I am a BSD/Linux
> whore in many ways and would never use 9x even if it were new but I
> have no problem with win2k or XP or win2k3 server, while a bit
> bloated, they are for the most part powerful stable operating systems.
> I would never want to discourage someone from learning because they
> don't have the money to buy modern equipment but it just seems like it
> is the overall trend still, and Linux is always free and can run on
> some of the oldest legacy equipment there is.
> 
>      When I was at Barnes and Nobel yesterday I was looking at the
> magazine rack and found an article in an electronics magazine (either
> Servo or Nuts & Volts, for the life of me I cant remember) where the
> gist of it was that the Internet is not worth while for electronic
> suppliers. They said users find it much easier to just call them up
> for inventory and price quotes.  Now I understand some older engineers
> who never used computers in the first place and are stuck in there
> ways would agree and that there are parts of the world were Internet
> access can be problematic. I am not suggesting they refuse phone
> orders BUT I cant imagine 90% of people would agree its easier to call
> than to do a quick search on the distributors web page.  I place most
> of my electronic orders through digikey and find there site very easy
> to navigate and find what I want.  I guarantee you that says call for
> a price quote I wont.  I view it as inefficient and also don't want to
> be tried to be sold anything.  This article did keep me alert to this
> attitude when I was browsing the web and I have noticed quite a few
> electronic supplier sites just being a front to give an address and
> phone number to call them often without even listing products.
> 
>      I really hope the attitude isn't that "I'm just a hobbyist and
> cant do anything more complicated." As stated earlier my background is
> more in the computer hacking/programming side of things were for the
> most part the community is more bleeding edge than there corporate
> counterpart and the attitude is that anything can be done with open
> source projects rivaling million dollar company products every day.
>   
>      I don't mean to insult anyone here or tell anyone they shouldn't
> continue doing what they enjoy doing or to stop learning. I am just
> stating an observation and wondering if anyone else has noticed this
> or agrees with me. Perhaps I am just looking in the wrong places and
> there are great bleeding edge things going on else where.
> 
> Justin
> 
> -- 
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist