Kevin,
A couple of ideas come to mind. First, people did not acquire as much
knowledge as rapidly as now. You learned the fine points of the art by years
of practice, conversation, reading, questions, etc. Today, you watch the
discourse on a continuos basis - sort of like siting in the granddaddy of all
QRP forums every single day of your life.
Second, we develop the state of the art more rapidly. The rate of change is
so much faster today than it was only 15 or 20 years ago. One reason for that
rapid rate of change is instantaneous idea exchange. When 1000 QRPers are
looking at a thread and someone asks a question, answers are immediate. Some
are old news, some are revisions of old news, and a few pop forth with a new
idea altogether. The probability of having someone listening who will have
that new idea is so much greater when everyone is listening at the same time.
Ever heard of a "hoot and holler" circuit? For decades, the stock brokers
knew that instant info was necessary in their business. To provide that
immediacy, they had analog lines installed between all the brokers in all the
Wall St. Houses. At your desk, you would have a simple audio intercom box.
It was always listening to the circuit. You could push a button and ask a
question, heard by hundreds of other brokers on their intercom boxes - people
would "hoot and holler" to get the answer to a question or to advise of some
timely fact that affected their business. The Internet QRP Club has become
the "hoot and holler" of the QRP fraternity.
Before this, we did all right. We probably had fewer ulcers and less stress.
Now, instead of having some little problem with your HB QRP rig, you also have
problems with your computer, your browser, your ISP and your wife who wants to
know why you are now spending more on your computer every year than you are on
your radios. Oh, and for some reason, we seem to have less time to actually
OPERATE those little HB QRP rigs. Now why is that?
Ed, N5EM
Houston, Tx.
----------
From: owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU on behalf of Kevin Anderson
Sent: Friday, March 07, 1997 7:35 AM
To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion
Subject: How did we manage .... ?
I walk to and from work, so get plenty of time (40 min. each way)
to think. The thought on my mind this Friday morning was just
this: how did we (I) manage before e-mail, particularly with
respect to radio, our interest and hobby ?
- Articles were obviously written in magazines (QST, CQ, etc.).
- People must of had more in-depth technical discussions on the air.
- And there sure must have been more local knowledge.
That is all I can think of.
OR was there not much really known or shared then as now?
Pondering....help me out OTs.
And disappointed - I was too close to hear either of the
Thursday foxes -- sorry guys.
Cheers/72. Kevin, KB9IUA, Rock Island IL
home: kb9iua@juno.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the Federal Government.
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