long, scott a. wrote:
> What is happening here in the electronic engineering
> world, are we letting down on design criteria or what?
OF COURSE! Success in the consumer electronics business generally
implies cutting manufacturing costs to the bone. Parts whose function
benefits only a minority of customers--much less their neighbors--are
cost-ineffective, and are yanked. Recall the story of Mad Man Muntz,
early mass-marketer of cheap televisions, who would go into the lab and
cut parts out of his engineers' prototypes until they stopped
working--then put the last one back in.
It is this same philosophy that brings us noise-generating touch lamps
and dimmers, and telephones and VCR's that go nuts when you key your
rig.
EIA-the mfrs group-makes suggestions to its members re such things as
filters and shielding, but has no enforcement power. FCC is empowered in
some areas, and mandated in others, but is dependent upon funding in
either case, and has, of course, gotten the short end in recent years.
Not a pretty picture, from our standpoint.
--
Garry Shapiro, NI6T
Editor, The DXer
newsletter of the Northern California DX Club
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