Well put John,

My first CPU was made out of 7400 chips till one of my professors gave
me a 6800 board that he had received and couldn't or wouldn't take the
time to understand.
After 30 years in the PC industry I find myself back in electronics
faced with CPU's like the 32MX series and a bunch of wiz kids that
know C but not the slightest thing about how a CPU works let alone a
transistor. I make a living out of taming hot heads and guiding
technicians in the hope that between the two we get a working product.
But for fun and to keep myself up to date I prototype and build
devices that would cost me a dollar or so to buy from China.

We have become too specialized,  working with the current generation
chips I can see that that is important, but I still think there is
room to expand your knowledge by experimentation even if it is a waste
of time output wise. And for people who have retired (I don't think
there is such an option theses days financially) there is nothing
wrong with a hobby that keeps your mind active and answers the "How
did they work that Magic" question.

Cheers
Chris

p.s a few years behind John, but close enough to understand
--=20
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