5 ms·

Are you crazy? I'm from '79, so probably a bit younger than you. We can now buy an Arduino board for the price of a computer game, and make a flying drone. Eve

Are you crazy? I'm from '79, so probably a bit younger than you. We can now buy an Arduino board for the price of a computer game, and make a flying drone. Even with a small camera or some sensors if you want. Or create some small robots with all the motors and sensors that you want, custom 3d printed. My son is now 13 and doing STEM. I only wish I had access to all the things that they can now do for cheap, especially all the robotics and drone stuff. Plus, the amount of info on the internet is amazing and quickly accessible anywhere. I agree that the old days were a lot of fun, but if I had to choose, I would want to be 13 nowadays instead of the 80s or 90s.

dvh1990 5y ago
Well yes, but flying drones are not exciting when everybody can build/buy one.
- xboxnolifes 5y ago
  What's interesting is not having a drone, but what you do with them. It's like saying photography is not exciting when everyone has a camera.
  - tarboreus 5y ago
    It kind of isn't. though.
    - throwaway675309 5y ago
      You shouldn't derive whether or not something is exciting to yourself by its exclusivity. I can't even begin to state how wrong that feels.
    - hackerfromthefu 5y ago
      That's so subjective. My photography is interesting to me, and draws admiration and interest from almost everyone I share it with, even though they themselves have phones with cameras.
- rowanG077 5y ago
  Then you were not really interested in Tech. Just in being in some pseudo exclusive club. I definitely think building your own drone is very exciting.
- ddaalluu2 5y ago
  So you're not interested in tech but in tech no one else has.
  - dvh1990 5y ago
    The novelty factor IS important. Back in the 90s/00s techies were relatively rare. Being tech-oriented, generally smart but also socially awkward and introverted is an interesting mix - you derive identity and pride from the things that make you special. Was this the reason I loved tech? No, that's the reason I DID tech. The reason I loved tech is because I believed that tech will make our lives exponentially better. And up to a certain point, it did...
- marktangotango 5y ago
  Ask the military planners of the world how exciting drones are. That one little device being dismissed so casually has changed warfare, for all time.
  - rchaud 5y ago
    Those people were probably just as excited when NSO's Pegasus became commercially available. For the rest of us, that wouldn't be the case.
- kooshball 5y ago
  what a ridiculous statement. it also shows why the whole premise for this post is so misguided.
- koonsolo 5y ago
  Drones have so many applications! I know a guy who builds drones to map out farmer lands. So many applications, so little time.
- tbugrara 5y ago
  Just want to chime in and say there's nothing wrong with finding excitement in doing something unique. That drive inside of you has taken people very far I'd imagine, with the obvious tradeoffs. Don't give up on tech and keep an open mind. It's true that flying drones are not exciting to you, but flying a drone could be a first step in finding something more interesting to do with drones. Boredom is functional. It can be a guide towards more interesting things so as long as you don't let it run the show. Tolerate it and follow (intelligently) where it takes you, don't avoid it. I don't know how helpful this will be to you, but it bothered me to see people dismiss your interest because you value doing something unique. Those same judgements held me back for years.
pessimizer 5y ago
> We can now buy an Arduino board for the price of a computer game, and make a flying drone. I'm pretty sure you could do this 20 years ago, there just hadn't been that wave of marketing around microcontrollers as a hobby that happened around the time of Make magazine. $2 for a PIC and $45 for a programmer, maybe? Waiting excitedly for the next issue of Nuts & Volts? Idly flipping through the Jameco and Small Parts catalogs? Toolboxes filled with TTL? The internet is certainly an advantage, but it also ain't too new. edit: randomly posting the Small Parts catalog so we can reflect on and celebrate what was lost https://web.archive.org/web/20160323004150/http://www.smallparts2.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160323004150/http://www.smallp... NO MINIMUM ORDER Also, a shout out to American Science & Surplus, off to the suburbs after 84 years. https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/13/american-science-surplus-is-leaving-for-the-suburbs-after-84-years-on-the-northwest-side/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/13/american-science-sur...
- gilbetron 5y ago
  No? Not even remotely. Even besides buying the parts (which were more expensive and, literally, exponentially less capable), the knowhow and training needed wasn't something you could find on the Internet. Drones didn't exist then, that was a fantasy in 2002. The Internet of 2002 was far, far different from what we have now.
  - raxxorraxor 5y ago
    True, the choices were more limited, but there is still a trend in that direction again. If you associate tech is with Apple devices for example, you are probably not one dabbling in tech, you are the passive passenger. Doesn't have to be the case, but there is a hype is more about consumer solutions instead of tech itself.
- vanadium 5y ago
  AS&S is, in a relatively literal sense, next door to me. Fun bunch of folks whenever I stop by. But as a late 70s Gen Xer, I would never trade living through that transition period from pre-Internet to Internet. You can't pay to have had that experience or perspective, and what transpired through those years from BBSes to pre-Web to Web adoption, from technological and sociological standpoints, was _insane_.

dvh1990 5y ago

Well yes, but flying drones are not exciting when everybody can build/buy one.

xboxnolifes 5y ago
What's interesting is not having a drone, but what you do with them. It's like saying photography is not exciting when everyone has a camera.
- tarboreus 5y ago
  It kind of isn't. though.
  - throwaway675309 5y ago
    You shouldn't derive whether or not something is exciting to yourself by its exclusivity. I can't even begin to state how wrong that feels.
  - hackerfromthefu 5y ago
    That's so subjective. My photography is interesting to me, and draws admiration and interest from almost everyone I share it with, even though they themselves have phones with cameras.
rowanG077 5y ago
Then you were not really interested in Tech. Just in being in some pseudo exclusive club. I definitely think building your own drone is very exciting.
ddaalluu2 5y ago
So you're not interested in tech but in tech no one else has.
- dvh1990 5y ago
  The novelty factor IS important. Back in the 90s/00s techies were relatively rare. Being tech-oriented, generally smart but also socially awkward and introverted is an interesting mix - you derive identity and pride from the things that make you special. Was this the reason I loved tech? No, that's the reason I DID tech. The reason I loved tech is because I believed that tech will make our lives exponentially better. And up to a certain point, it did...
marktangotango 5y ago
Ask the military planners of the world how exciting drones are. That one little device being dismissed so casually has changed warfare, for all time.
- rchaud 5y ago
  Those people were probably just as excited when NSO's Pegasus became commercially available. For the rest of us, that wouldn't be the case.
kooshball 5y ago
what a ridiculous statement. it also shows why the whole premise for this post is so misguided.
koonsolo 5y ago
Drones have so many applications! I know a guy who builds drones to map out farmer lands. So many applications, so little time.
tbugrara 5y ago
Just want to chime in and say there's nothing wrong with finding excitement in doing something unique. That drive inside of you has taken people very far I'd imagine, with the obvious tradeoffs. Don't give up on tech and keep an open mind. It's true that flying drones are not exciting to you, but flying a drone could be a first step in finding something more interesting to do with drones. Boredom is functional. It can be a guide towards more interesting things so as long as you don't let it run the show. Tolerate it and follow (intelligently) where it takes you, don't avoid it. I don't know how helpful this will be to you, but it bothered me to see people dismiss your interest because you value doing something unique. Those same judgements held me back for years.

pessimizer 5y ago

> We can now buy an Arduino board for the price of a computer game, and make a flying drone. I'm pretty sure you could do this 20 years ago, there just hadn't been that wave of marketing around microcontrollers as a hobby that happened around the time of Make magazine. $2 for a PIC and $45 for a programmer, maybe? Waiting excitedly for the next issue of Nuts & Volts? Idly flipping through the Jameco and Small Parts catalogs? Toolboxes filled with TTL? The internet is certainly an advantage, but it also ain't too new. edit: randomly posting the Small Parts catalog so we can reflect on and celebrate what was lost https://web.archive.org/web/20160323004150/http://www.smallparts2.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160323004150/http://www.smallp... NO MINIMUM ORDER Also, a shout out to American Science & Surplus, off to the suburbs after 84 years. https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/13/american-science-surplus-is-leaving-for-the-suburbs-after-84-years-on-the-northwest-side/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/13/american-science-sur...

gilbetron 5y ago
No? Not even remotely. Even besides buying the parts (which were more expensive and, literally, exponentially less capable), the knowhow and training needed wasn't something you could find on the Internet. Drones didn't exist then, that was a fantasy in 2002. The Internet of 2002 was far, far different from what we have now.
- raxxorraxor 5y ago
  True, the choices were more limited, but there is still a trend in that direction again. If you associate tech is with Apple devices for example, you are probably not one dabbling in tech, you are the passive passenger. Doesn't have to be the case, but there is a hype is more about consumer solutions instead of tech itself.
vanadium 5y ago
AS&S is, in a relatively literal sense, next door to me. Fun bunch of folks whenever I stop by. But as a late 70s Gen Xer, I would never trade living through that transition period from pre-Internet to Internet. You can't pay to have had that experience or perspective, and what transpired through those years from BBSes to pre-Web to Web adoption, from technological and sociological standpoints, was _insane_.