Over the last few years I've been pondering about the identities of Silicon Chip's 'Serviceman' and the excellent cartoonist who (I think) would be better working for a major newspaper and shovelling vast amounts of cash into his/her bank.
I think these two people have amazing talents at both writing and drawing, and I just know that their identities shouldn't really be divulged, so this isn't really a question about who, more a celebration about what they do.
Anyway, I really don't want any cats let out of bags, just wanted to say I appreciate that part of SC.
I try to give credit to talent and mostly all that seems to happen is that a lot of people get out their Victa's ready for a poppy-mulching festival!
These are not tall poppies, short poppies, or even drug-producing varieties I think, just some people doing a good job IMHO.
Of course there may be a bit of 'tounge-in-cheek' involved in previous replies, and I'll take it as that, but if it isn't the case and the writer is indeed a pessimist, depressive and generally somewhat of a tool, maybe a bit of 'tooth particles in cheek' would be in order I think :-).
Hey, it's Usenet - the snarkiness comes with the protocol.
WRT the use of "emoticons", we're Australians, which means we should be able to detect irony or sarcasm from the language, not the use of smileys - them and things like "LOL!" are the equivalent of the laugh track in crappy US sitcoms.
While I have a number of issues with SC, I still subscribe and read it every month, and am glad it's still around.
Good words indeed! The Snarks are slapping my Tinkerbell around at this moment .
Damn, If I still aren't a net newbie after 12 years or so, I had to look up 'WRT'... Also I now agree with you about emoticons and those 'audio enhanced' sitcoms.
WOS (Way Off Subject) here, but thought you might enjoy this this as an example of 'spatial unawarness'.
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I'm glad SC mag is still around also, but hoping they have some youngsters in the wings - hopefully not 'surf nippers' but moreso 'circuit nerds'.
Youngsters in the wings. Hmm. When I started writing for Silicon Chip in 1993, aged 30, I was their youngest contributor. When I stopped writing for them late last year, I was still their youngest regular contributor.
Like amateur radio, I think hobby electronics is dead. It used to be cost effective to make your own stuff, nowadays it's not, that combined with a general apathy towards encouraging new hobbyists means it'll die out eventually. Component suppliers don't help much either, I only buy from DSE when I can't avoid it or I forgot how bad the last trip was.
That's always been a concern of mine - the magazine has struck me as being written by a bunch of opinionated old men seemingly oblivious to developments racing ahead around them - a lot of the questions they can't answer (or answer poorly) could be addressed by a bit of research on the net and by participating or at least monitoring some of the better online forums.
They also seem to be out of touch with the form and function of projects that might appeal to the less geriatric reader, as a result there seems to be so little innovation and excitement in their projects. A quick look at sites such as makezine.com would show the kind of stuff that interests the younger generation. Be in no doubt - there a plenty of yoof out there still interested in electronics and frantically putting remarkable things together. An increasing amount is micro-based, but there's still a heap of analogue circuitry involved, if only at the edges.
There's also a terrible style gap - there's no reason why their projects should look so lame - and dare I say it - poxy. I believe people's tastes and expectations for design and ergonomics have progressed since the 50's. The last kit I built of theirs - the lead acid battery zapper - has crap control layout and is an utter bastard to put together then pull to bits when it doesn't work. Somebody had the temerity to comment on this in a letter to SC and rather than accept that the customer is generally, if not always right, they defended their nasty, cramped design.
That said, it's an inescapable fact that it's largely an older generation of enthusiasts who still purchase SC or other print magazines. Online offers so many more exciting ideas from around the globe, and the opportunity to communicate and interact with other like-minded people. As much time I spend online, I still love print publications, and in one respect, can't imagine giving up reading the SMH on the verandah of a morning, or grumbling at something in SC, but I realise that my preferences don't necessarily apply to a younger generation who have grown up with other realities and values.
So is SC an old person's magazine with a mortal lifespan? While I don't think the readers, or the authors would like to think themselves as such, at least not mentally, I suspect it's days are numbered. All we can do is enjoy it (and complain about it) while it's still in print.
I don't think that hobbyist electronics NEED be dead. But to encourage it, magazines like Silicon Chip need to get people on staff who are
30-40 years younger (yes, that much!) than current staff members.
There's plenty of stuff on the web about hacking game machines, about modified car electronics, about robotics, about the latest in audio/ visual - the latter often done from a hard-hitting consumer test perspective. And all of those topics comprises electronics and all are of interest to young people. In fact, when you think about, young people are more interested in electronics and the outomes of electronics than ever before.
But a stuffy, olde world tone (or worse still, a pretend trendy language) is a big negative. As a contributor, I carefully wrote nearly every article in a style that I knew Leo Simpson would find acceptable - almost like a technical paper. He liked it but I knew many younger readers would stop after the first few lines.
I certainly think that it's an interesting time for Silicon Chip. According to my calculations, nearly all the permanent staff will retire much sooner rather than much later. I think that they've all forgotten that they started working for electronics magazines when they were quite young, and the advantages that they therefore had in a fresh, youthful approach.
Oh well, I told John Clarke all of this in long phone calls when I did many Silicon Chip projects with him!
Actually, WRT was an expression I learned about, hmm, 16 years ago at uni - just before the tsunami that is the Internet was unleashed.
I remember that from when it went to air - cruel stuff, but in a country like the US you can't blame them (too much) for being self-absorbed. The whole media system tends to be ridiculously parochial, and in many respects, the Australian commercial media - particularly the so called "current affairs" shows leans towards a similar parochialism, probably modelled on the success of US "news" formulas.
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