4 ms·

That's not true for me, I know very little electrical engineering/low level programming/embedded devices etc and wish I knew more, and yet I can't muster enough

by croon 7y ago

That's not true for me, I know very little electrical engineering/low level programming/embedded devices etc and wish I knew more, and yet I can't muster enough inherent interest to learn more. But I'm generally very curious about stuff and regularly read news/studies/documentation and get lost in wiki holes, but for a lot of useless stuff I don't really have a use for. So this is definitely an issue for me. I do profile myself and work as a generalist, and am good at trivia games, so I've managed to deal with it. But I would like to get better at specializing in things.

tomashubelbauer 7y ago
For me, the reason I can't seem to be able to get started with electronics is that I know I have a much smaller scope of where I can take the project from the start. If you build something good, but it looks home-made, it will be perceived as cute, not cool. Manufacturing is what makes or breaks this. But paying for expensive equipment or outsourcing manufacturing is not feasible for hobby projects. In software, I can make a hobby site people will mistake for a real product, and if it by chance takes off, it is easier to make it into one. Making toys which look like real products is easy in software, that's what SV seems to be all about. In hardware, I feel like this is much more difficult to do. And that's discouraging, even though I know it should not be, because the learning experience alone is worth it.
mapcars 7y ago
>But I'm generally very curious about stuff and regularly read news/studies/documentation and get lost in wiki holes Well this is it, the curiosity comes when you know there is something you don't know. >but for a lot of useless stuff I don't really have a use for That's a different matter, usefulness depends on billion factors around us and things which you consider useless might very well one day define your life.
- croon 7y ago
  > Well this is it, the curiosity comes when you know there is something you don't know. But your original post stated the opposite: > Answer is simple - we think we know it. Once you think you know something it immediately all excitement and interest disappears. Which is what I responded to. Did you leave out a negative? And to your second point: Yes, it's not too unusual that I've gotten use out of previously pointless information.
projektfu 7y ago
If this doesn't whet your appetite and make you feel like you've learned something, I don't know what will. But it's a hard course. https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:MITx+6.002x_6x+1T2015/course/ https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:MITx+6.002x_6x+1T2... This was another good one, more practically applicable to a programmer but less low-level: https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-shape-the-world-microcontroller-inputoutput-2 https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-shape-the-world-...
- croon 7y ago
  Thanks for the suggestions! I need to enroll to see the contents of the first one, but I will look into it!

by croon 7y ago

tomashubelbauer 7y ago

For me, the reason I can't seem to be able to get started with electronics is that I know I have a much smaller scope of where I can take the project from the start. If you build something good, but it looks home-made, it will be perceived as cute, not cool. Manufacturing is what makes or breaks this. But paying for expensive equipment or outsourcing manufacturing is not feasible for hobby projects. In software, I can make a hobby site people will mistake for a real product, and if it by chance takes off, it is easier to make it into one. Making toys which look like real products is easy in software, that's what SV seems to be all about. In hardware, I feel like this is much more difficult to do. And that's discouraging, even though I know it should not be, because the learning experience alone is worth it.

mapcars 7y ago

>But I'm generally very curious about stuff and regularly read news/studies/documentation and get lost in wiki holes Well this is it, the curiosity comes when you know there is something you don't know. >but for a lot of useless stuff I don't really have a use for That's a different matter, usefulness depends on billion factors around us and things which you consider useless might very well one day define your life.

croon 7y ago
> Well this is it, the curiosity comes when you know there is something you don't know. But your original post stated the opposite: > Answer is simple - we think we know it. Once you think you know something it immediately all excitement and interest disappears. Which is what I responded to. Did you leave out a negative? And to your second point: Yes, it's not too unusual that I've gotten use out of previously pointless information.

projektfu 7y ago

If this doesn't whet your appetite and make you feel like you've learned something, I don't know what will. But it's a hard course. https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:MITx+6.002x_6x+1T2015/course/ https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:MITx+6.002x_6x+1T2... This was another good one, more practically applicable to a programmer but less low-level: https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-shape-the-world-microcontroller-inputoutput-2 https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-shape-the-world-...

croon 7y ago
Thanks for the suggestions! I need to enroll to see the contents of the first one, but I will look into it!