MOTM

And really, probably to really anger some, but put a smile on the face of
others:  DIY really comes down to: eventually learning how to layout and
make your own PCB, get your owns parts, make your own panel, put it together
and pray it works...then spend way too much time debugging the darn thing
when it doesn't - then finally: have a working module that goes:
Bleezle-Blorp - Winka-Doo.  And it's the closest you'll ever get to the
spirit of true DIY.  And very much worth it!  Other than that, maybe you're
just a person who can follow good instructions and put together a
kit...That's cool too, but not really very DIY. It matters not though
actually.

Roger:

a) thanks for the long and eloquent post
b) this is a very interesting point and one that JH and I debated on several
times: is building a kit (especially mine where you have everything laid at
your feet) really in the 'spirit' of DIY? We both agreed it wasn't, but it
was better than nothing at all. Al least it got people *thinking* a bit more
and there is the whole 'pride of ownership' aspect.

JH's main lament was there was not as large as a 'peer core group' as he
imagined. He visualized there might be 20-30 people scattered over the
planet that could "design on his level" and he wanted the sort of
give-and-take exchange of the 80s/90s. He would grumble that it wouldn't be
2 weeks after announcing a new pc board/project that emails would start
coming in about "...and so when is the NEXT one?" He had a dream where
people would, for lack of a better image, "take turns" in a round-robin
style, so that maybe each participant would only do 1 design a year but
after say 3-4 years there are like 50 designs to pick from. One of his last
emails was to the effect of "now I see why you got out of (DIY stuff)".
Because it ALWAYS goes from passion to work to toil to
stress/disappointment.

Paul S.