It's hard to imagine how electronics could compete with computer programming as a hobby with the increasing popularity of home computers in the early 80s.
Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
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Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#2Integrated circuits weren't as accessible; you had to find the data sheet, if you weren't careful you could fry expensive chips easy. Computers were actually hard to damage with software.
You could rip up old electronics for discrete components and make use of them; IC's were much more difficult to salvage for reuse. And yet those were rapidly where all the fun was.
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#3everything moved towards surface mount components. These are a lot harder to work with than the through hole parts. Then a lot of manufacturing went to Japan/Korea/Taiwan and latterly to China.
A quirk of US tax law said 'parts in inventory are carried at cost' and not depreciated. If you want to write them off, you must sell them.
This meant that a company making 500,000 widgets, who had a bad sale year may end up with parts to make 50,000 widgets. The next year's design differs = parts useless to them = sold off cheap to used parts dealers(called 'surplus' = 100% good new parts), like Radio SHack and many others = lots of stuff.
Now this business has collapse and you can only buy parts cheap on Ali-express, Ebay. New parts from Digikey are readily available in small/large amounts at the normal price. The best remnant in places like hacklab.to = a hackerspace with tools and 3D printers etc. Many libraries now put hacker spaces and internet cafes where they once dealt with books
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#4Electronics as a hobby costs real money.
Software as a hobby costs nothing --- beyond a computer which everyone already has; hobbyist or not.
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#5Electronics as a hobby costs real money. Software as a hobby costs nothing --- beyond a computer which everyone already has; hobbyist or not.
I think this question is specifically about the early 80's, although I think that argument is certainly relevant today.
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#6Electronics as a hobby costs real money. Software as a hobby costs nothing --- beyond a computer which everyone already has; hobbyist or not.
Computers were not cheap in the 80s. However, my father, who did a lot of electronics projects in the 80s did pivot to computers and it changed my life.
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#7Schools were one reason. My high school canceled electronics classes in favor of programming, which was seen as a job for the future. I'm sure money and safety also figured into that decision.
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#8I am from the 70s and my father did both electronics and software so I was raised with both. I think it really collapsed in the 90s but end 80s my university dropped many analog electronics courses for digital. That was enough to have new students not learn enough about electronics.
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#9[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Did students lose interest in electronics as a hobby in the early 80s?
#10I didn’t know much about electronics and still don’t know much to this day. There were certainly electronics parts stores at the time whereas today they’ve all closed. Acquiring parts online has made things easier and there is a lot more choice of parts and lower prices today. I was and still am more interested in computer programming.