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>I just wonder how did he afford all this equipment. Living in the US comes with certain advantages like some of the lowest consumer prices in the West includi

>I just wonder how did he afford all this equipment. Living in the US comes with certain advantages like some of the lowest consumer prices in the West including HW equipment being dirt cheap on the second hand market plus houses being big enough for space for such hobbies along with the biggest take home pays yielding some of the highest purchasing power in the West, a formula tough to replicate anywhere else. At least compared to where I live now in Europe, such hobbies would definitely be unaffordable for me monetary and real-estate wise, which is also a monetary issue at the end of the day. I was looking on an interesting blog about buying certain older ThinkPads or older multi-core server chips for $50 used for building a cheap home lab, and when I checked, super exited, on my local second hand market, such machines or chips were fetching north of €250 and that was before the chip shortage broke the market. That's just one anecdote, but you get the point.

astura 5y ago
A 22-year old full time student can't even afford "dirt cheap" second hand equipment (nevermind the space to store it!) unless: -They have some sort of windfall -They have a trust fund or stipend that they receive just for existing -Their parents pay for everything, or, alternatively, their parents pay for all of their living expenses so their own money is only "fun money." -They, somehow, have a high paying job. In which case they probably won't be going to school full time also. Or they're "job" is having a lot of followers on social media. This isn't a knock on anyone, I'm just trying to explain why one young adult student can be excited because they were finally able to save up for a soldering iron and another has a garage full of expensive experiment to tinker with. It's pretty much implied this guy's living expenses (or most of them) are covered by his parents who also have tons of extra space and tolerance for him using it.
- l-lousy 5y ago
  Well he’s (Sam) very likely still living at home, so parents are paying for most things. Plus he has the revenue from YouTube
- temp8964 5y ago
  I am not sure about his case, but it's not very hard for a talent student to get $1k scholarship every month. That's lot of money to use if he does not need to pay for his living expenses.
- rdtwo 5y ago
  Yeah I mean so what. College room and board is 30-50k I’m sure he can get the microscope running for less than that
  - was_a_dev 5y ago
    My PhD is funded by a research council and my stipend is £12k. After rent, food and bills there is some room. But it's laughable to think I could repair and run an electron microscope. Already mentioned, finding a broken microscope for £1k wouldn't happen here. And you're seriously underestimating the resource requirements to operate such a machine
    - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
      So find some professor at a university with an electron microscope and convince them to let you borrow it some times.
      - rdtwo 5y ago
        I think those days are over. Universitys are super corporate now they want to own everything you touch
        kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
        Ok then think of another cool project that doesn't require an electron microscope.
        was_a_dev 5y ago
        That kinda defeats the whole point at that stage?
    - rdtwo 5y ago
      If my public middle school could do that in some back room closet it can’t be that bad. For reference in us costs and spend your public stipend is less than my city spends per person on homeless folks and half of minimum wage. I think we’re taking different scales of money. These kinds of projects are open to the top 5-10% of earners in the us so 15million or so folks could fund this but only 1-2 actually do it.
was_a_dev 5y ago
I think living in the US must have some effect. In the UK the second hand market is non-existent with the likes of the US. You can't just pick up hardware off Craiglist for next to nothing. It simply doesn't happen Space is another thing as well. But I'm sure there's plenty of Americans whole live more urban without such space as well. My future prospects may be promising, but owning a large garage to tinker in, whether electronics or something like woodworking seems like an untenable goal.
- JohnBooty 5y ago
  We definitely have it easier here in America with regards to available space and the price of used equipment, though I'd note that this kid's situation isn't typical. I grew up middle-class (my dad made, statistically, pretty much the median household income) and out of the scores of kids I knew, perhaps one of them might've had the parental and financial resources to do something like this, had he had the skill/intelligence/inclination. We had a tiny garage, barely enough to fit a small car. Of course, there was no room for a car, because we needed to keep the yard tools and such in there. I'm laughing -- trying to imagine my dad's reaction, had I asked him if I could build a science lab in there instead. "Sorry dad, the lawn mower's got to go somewhere else now" lol. He would have told me to go fuck myself.
JohnBooty 5y ago
I believe everything you're saying! But also, please understand that what he's accomplished here is monetarily out of the reach of your average American as well. Especially the average American teenager. The article notes that his dad is a very successful engineer, so roughly speaking he's almost certainly in the top 5-10%. Most homes do not have garages of this size and most garages are not climate controlled as this one is. Additionally, his dad is an engineer. I grew up middle class, but my dad sold vegetables. Neither of my parents could do algebra, much less advanced stuff, so they weren't in a position financially or otherwise to help me start up a semiconductor fab in the garage. Not that I would have had the smarts or the drive to do that; I'm merely pointing out that this kid is at the intersection of talent and privilege. In service of their "boy genius" narrative, the article glosses over how much parental monetary support this kid has had. To pick one example: One of Zeloof’s best finds was a broken electron microscope that cost $250,000 in the early ’90s; he bought it for $1,000 and repaired it. Very impressive, but thousands more were spent on plumbing, repairs of the unit, a giant electrical transformer to power the thing, etc. Shipping costs alone may have exceeded the cost of the unit, but he doesn't touch on that. You can see some of the details in his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJXio_jpc_Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJXio_jpc_Y I remember in the 90's, my school turned down a free electron microscope for exactly that reason -- the cost of the unit itself is only the tip of the iceberg.
- bradlys 5y ago
  He went to CMU - I haven’t met someone who comes from a modest middle class family who went to CMU. I’m sure they exist but I haven’t found them and I’ve met quite a few grads. The guy comes from an affluent family. The privilege is obvious from a mile away. Still cool and all but in no way should anyone read this as a “oh, why wasn’t I able to do that” or “why aren’t more kids doing this?!” type of thing. It speaks to how out of touch most of HN is that they find this relatable.
  - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
    So would you say it is worth shelling out money to go to CMU? What do they teach that others don't?
rdtwo 5y ago
Why not eBay? Usally things are more expensive but for small stuff you pay market price
- was_a_dev 5y ago
  eBay in the UK is just a platform for people to sell their old hardware near retail price. Some niches are decent value Finding a £1k electron microscope would never happen Edit: A quick search across Europen eBay, I could buy a used/broken SEM for £5000 ($6850) Then I'd need to rent somewhere to operate it
  - rdtwo 5y ago
    It’s market price +10% + shipping. Anything under you could buy up and resell for profit and I sometimes do
  - rdtwo 5y ago
    Space is a huge problem. I would have had the same issue as 25 year old.

astura 5y ago

A 22-year old full time student can't even afford "dirt cheap" second hand equipment (nevermind the space to store it!) unless: -They have some sort of windfall -They have a trust fund or stipend that they receive just for existing -Their parents pay for everything, or, alternatively, their parents pay for all of their living expenses so their own money is only "fun money." -They, somehow, have a high paying job. In which case they probably won't be going to school full time also. Or they're "job" is having a lot of followers on social media. This isn't a knock on anyone, I'm just trying to explain why one young adult student can be excited because they were finally able to save up for a soldering iron and another has a garage full of expensive experiment to tinker with. It's pretty much implied this guy's living expenses (or most of them) are covered by his parents who also have tons of extra space and tolerance for him using it.

l-lousy 5y ago
Well he’s (Sam) very likely still living at home, so parents are paying for most things. Plus he has the revenue from YouTube
temp8964 5y ago
I am not sure about his case, but it's not very hard for a talent student to get $1k scholarship every month. That's lot of money to use if he does not need to pay for his living expenses.
rdtwo 5y ago
Yeah I mean so what. College room and board is 30-50k I’m sure he can get the microscope running for less than that
- was_a_dev 5y ago
  My PhD is funded by a research council and my stipend is £12k. After rent, food and bills there is some room. But it's laughable to think I could repair and run an electron microscope. Already mentioned, finding a broken microscope for £1k wouldn't happen here. And you're seriously underestimating the resource requirements to operate such a machine
  - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
    So find some professor at a university with an electron microscope and convince them to let you borrow it some times.
    - rdtwo 5y ago
      I think those days are over. Universitys are super corporate now they want to own everything you touch
      - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
        Ok then think of another cool project that doesn't require an electron microscope.
        was_a_dev 5y ago
        That kinda defeats the whole point at that stage?
  - rdtwo 5y ago
    If my public middle school could do that in some back room closet it can’t be that bad. For reference in us costs and spend your public stipend is less than my city spends per person on homeless folks and half of minimum wage. I think we’re taking different scales of money. These kinds of projects are open to the top 5-10% of earners in the us so 15million or so folks could fund this but only 1-2 actually do it.

was_a_dev 5y ago

I think living in the US must have some effect. In the UK the second hand market is non-existent with the likes of the US. You can't just pick up hardware off Craiglist for next to nothing. It simply doesn't happen Space is another thing as well. But I'm sure there's plenty of Americans whole live more urban without such space as well. My future prospects may be promising, but owning a large garage to tinker in, whether electronics or something like woodworking seems like an untenable goal.

JohnBooty 5y ago
We definitely have it easier here in America with regards to available space and the price of used equipment, though I'd note that this kid's situation isn't typical. I grew up middle-class (my dad made, statistically, pretty much the median household income) and out of the scores of kids I knew, perhaps one of them might've had the parental and financial resources to do something like this, had he had the skill/intelligence/inclination. We had a tiny garage, barely enough to fit a small car. Of course, there was no room for a car, because we needed to keep the yard tools and such in there. I'm laughing -- trying to imagine my dad's reaction, had I asked him if I could build a science lab in there instead. "Sorry dad, the lawn mower's got to go somewhere else now" lol. He would have told me to go fuck myself.

JohnBooty 5y ago

I believe everything you're saying! But also, please understand that what he's accomplished here is monetarily out of the reach of your average American as well. Especially the average American teenager. The article notes that his dad is a very successful engineer, so roughly speaking he's almost certainly in the top 5-10%. Most homes do not have garages of this size and most garages are not climate controlled as this one is. Additionally, his dad is an engineer. I grew up middle class, but my dad sold vegetables. Neither of my parents could do algebra, much less advanced stuff, so they weren't in a position financially or otherwise to help me start up a semiconductor fab in the garage. Not that I would have had the smarts or the drive to do that; I'm merely pointing out that this kid is at the intersection of talent and privilege. In service of their "boy genius" narrative, the article glosses over how much parental monetary support this kid has had. To pick one example: One of Zeloof’s best finds was a broken electron microscope that cost $250,000 in the early ’90s; he bought it for $1,000 and repaired it. Very impressive, but thousands more were spent on plumbing, repairs of the unit, a giant electrical transformer to power the thing, etc. Shipping costs alone may have exceeded the cost of the unit, but he doesn't touch on that. You can see some of the details in his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJXio_jpc_Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJXio_jpc_Y I remember in the 90's, my school turned down a free electron microscope for exactly that reason -- the cost of the unit itself is only the tip of the iceberg.

bradlys 5y ago
He went to CMU - I haven’t met someone who comes from a modest middle class family who went to CMU. I’m sure they exist but I haven’t found them and I’ve met quite a few grads. The guy comes from an affluent family. The privilege is obvious from a mile away. Still cool and all but in no way should anyone read this as a “oh, why wasn’t I able to do that” or “why aren’t more kids doing this?!” type of thing. It speaks to how out of touch most of HN is that they find this relatable.
- kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
  So would you say it is worth shelling out money to go to CMU? What do they teach that others don't?

rdtwo 5y ago

Why not eBay? Usally things are more expensive but for small stuff you pay market price

was_a_dev 5y ago
eBay in the UK is just a platform for people to sell their old hardware near retail price. Some niches are decent value Finding a £1k electron microscope would never happen Edit: A quick search across Europen eBay, I could buy a used/broken SEM for £5000 ($6850) Then I'd need to rent somewhere to operate it
- rdtwo 5y ago
  It’s market price +10% + shipping. Anything under you could buy up and resell for profit and I sometimes do
- rdtwo 5y ago
  Space is a huge problem. I would have had the same issue as 25 year old.