Making Things

Over the past few weeks I have been toying with electronics. (More on this later.)
I did actually read a book though. It is called "Made by Hand" by Mark Frauenfelder. It is about his quest to become a DIY person. He is the man behind one of my favorite sites/magazines called "Make".
In this book he talks about the quest for a better cup of coffee, the quest for eggs, and his search for more DIY projects. He has learned over the years that being more hands on with the world helps him in ways he never suspected. Perhaps the most important thing I learned from this book was to not be afraid to try and fail. I tend to give up when I cannot do something right away. To that end I picked up a new hobby/interest. I have been tinkering with electronics. I have read quite a bit about the theory behind the work and have purchased some kits and tools. I did get a sense of accomplishment when I completed some basic circuits. It is a skill that the older generations knew but we are losing. We cannot fix much of anything anymore. Some of the reason is our fault but some of the blame falls to the companies making our "things". They do not want us to fix anything. They want us to throw it away and buy the next new thing. I have four iPods. The worst part of that sentence is that the first one still works. So do the other three. My old computer was replaced because it was slow - not because it did not work anymore. We are getting trained to devalue working items. So I decided to try and reuse and re-purpose a bit more. I have a old fashioned stereo in my room at school. It is made up from an old tube style amp (Thanks Mr. Miller), some speakers from a broken stereo system that was thrown out (the speakers still work) and my old CD player. The player sill works but I retired it to the garage because mp3s are the way to go....right?
I am off the topic here but this is where the book took me. It made me challenge my approach to being more self sufficient. To fixing things. To making things. To being a bit more in tune with the world in general. To that end I really liked this book. The long section on coffee was lost on me (I do not like coffee) but the spirit of being a DIY person was not.
I will be sharing the journey into electronics soon. I made some cool toys and I want to brag a bit about what I made....by my own hand.

Check out the book HERE.