Groups > sci.electronics.design > #451383

Re: why analog electronics

From	John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com>
Newsgroups	sci.electronics.design
Subject	Re: why analog electronics
Date	2017-03-11 14:51 -0800
Organization	highland technology
Message-ID	<o7v8cclv8v427vbnptk8fmsdmmdurpkk77@4ax.com> (permalink)
References	<jea1cc5ealcjf3b9ot1kfsuqkl0lu6me44@4ax.com> <UKadnaCuxNWZ2FnFnZ2dnUU7-dGdnZ2d@giganews.com>

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On Sat, 11 Mar 2017 12:42:12 -0600, Tim Wescott
<tim@seemywebsite.really> wrote:

>On Wed, 08 Mar 2017 17:11:04 -0800, John Larkin wrote:
>
>> The Brat is in the UC Berkeley MBA program, and one of her profs took
>> his entire class to dinner at Chez Panisse, which ran about $200 per.
>> He was asking about our company, and was surprised that anyone still
>> does analog electronics. "Isn't everything digital now?" He's not being
>> a jerk, he's seriously wondering why anything is analog.
>> 
>> So, I'm going to write him a little essay on "why analog?" Who knows,
>> maybe he'll take me to Chez Panisse.
>
>I'll cosign.  I know there have been other articles on the theme of 
>"there will always be analog" most of which make good points.  I couldn't 
>point you to any links, though.
>
>I do think that in general the most common circuits now are ADC -> 
>digital -> DAC, and that the dividing line between the analog and digital 
>keeps getting pushed closer and closer to the edges of the board.  But I 
>also firmly believe that there will _always_ be applications for which a 
>pure, or mostly, analog solution is the sensible way to go.
>
>(I'm currently immersed in Shannon's 1948 tutorial paper where he spells 
>out his channel capacity theorem.  He mentions PCM modulation, AKA 
>digital replacement of an analog signal, as an example of sending 
>redundant information on a signal.  Doing so comes complete with the 
>thresholding effects you see in any other forward error correction 
>scheme, where things are Really Good up to some threshold, and then 
>things get Really Bad.)

I can buy a 32 Gbyte USB memory stick for $9. That's roughly 2e-12
dollars per transistor. Or I can buy a fast opamp for about the same
price, with maybe 100 transistors inside, around 10 cents per
transistor. The memory stick comes with free shipping, and the opamp
doesn't.

I'm designing two boxes just now that are both 100% analog. Not a
flipflop or gate in sight. That's refreshing. We have much higher
markups on all-analog stuff than on mixed-signal products.




-- 

John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc

lunatic fringe electronics

Thread

why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-08 17:11 -0800
  Re: why analog electronics Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2017-03-09 10:35 +0200
    Re: why analog electronics Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> - 2017-03-09 07:00 -0700
    Re: why analog electronics bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-03-09 09:30 -0500
    Re: why analog electronics gregz <zekor@comcast.net> - 2017-03-10 08:23 +0000
  Re: why analog electronics bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-03-09 09:25 -0500
  Re: why analog electronics Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com> - 2017-03-09 18:29 +0000
  Re: why analog electronics doh@yipee.com - 2017-03-09 13:42 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-03-09 22:29 +0000
      Re: why analog electronics pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-09 14:59 -0800
        Re: why analog electronics Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-03-10 08:27 +0000
          Re: why analog electronics Gerhard Hoffmann <ghf@hoffmann-hochfrequenz.de> - 2017-03-10 15:07 +0100
        Re: why analog electronics bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-03-10 12:17 -0500
          Re: why analog electronics bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-03-10 12:18 -0500
      Re: why analog electronics Jeroen Belleman <jeroen@nospam.please> - 2017-03-10 13:30 +0100
      Re: why analog electronics bill.sloman@ieee.org - 2017-03-13 04:06 -0700
    Re: why analog electronics Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2017-03-10 12:50 +1100
      Re: why analog electronics "Tim Williams" <tiwill@seventransistorlabs.com> - 2017-03-09 20:07 -0600
      Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-09 19:28 -0800
        Re: why analog electronics "Tim Williams" <tiwill@seventransistorlabs.com> - 2017-03-10 19:05 -0600
      Re: why analog electronics Winfield Hill <hill@rowland.harvard.edu> - 2017-03-10 04:49 -0800
        Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-10 08:08 -0800
          Re: why analog electronics Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-12 02:30 +0000
            Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-13 10:18 -0700
              Re: why analog electronics Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-13 22:56 +0000
      Re: why analog electronics Sjouke Burry <burrynulnulfour@ppllaanneett.nnll> - 2017-03-11 00:02 +0100
  Re: why analog electronics jurb6006@gmail.com - 2017-03-09 20:50 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics boB@everett.wa - 2017-03-09 22:33 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-10 13:16 -0500
        Re: why analog electronics boB <boB@theresnoplacelikehome.com> - 2017-03-10 12:24 -0800
          Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-10 20:04 -0500
            Re: why analog electronics boB K7IQ <boB@everett.wa> - 2017-03-10 19:41 -0800
  Re: why analog electronics djlocher56@gmail.com - 2017-03-09 22:27 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-10 13:17 -0500
      Re: why analog electronics bulegoge@columbus.rr.com - 2017-03-10 10:51 -0800
        Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-10 20:06 -0500
        Re: why analog electronics "Tim Williams" <tiwill@seventransistorlabs.com> - 2017-03-10 19:09 -0600
          Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-10 22:15 -0500
    Re: why analog electronics tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-10 14:12 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> - 2017-03-10 15:30 -0700
        Re: why analog electronics tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-10 15:04 -0800
  Re: why analog electronics Anthony Stewart <tony.sunnysky@gmail.com> - 2017-03-10 09:38 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics boB@everett.wa - 2017-03-10 11:03 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-10 20:09 -0500
        Re: why analog electronics boB K7IQ <boB@everett.wa> - 2017-03-10 19:50 -0800
  Re: why analog electronics Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> - 2017-03-10 12:50 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-10 13:18 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> - 2017-03-10 13:36 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics George Herold <gherold@teachspin.com> - 2017-03-10 17:01 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> - 2017-03-11 16:04 -0800
  Re: why analog electronics "Tim Williams" <tiwill@seventransistorlabs.com> - 2017-03-10 19:08 -0600
    Re: why analog electronics George Herold <gherold@teachspin.com> - 2017-03-10 18:54 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics "Tim Williams" <tiwill@seventransistorlabs.com> - 2017-03-11 11:45 -0600
        Re: why analog electronics "Tom Del Rosso" <fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> - 2017-03-17 22:02 -0400
          Re: why analog electronics "Tim Williams" <tiwill@seventransistorlabs.com> - 2017-03-18 03:55 -0500
    Re: why analog electronics boB K7IQ <boB@everett.wa> - 2017-03-10 19:56 -0800
  Re: why analog electronics Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.really> - 2017-03-11 12:42 -0600
    Re: why analog electronics Lasse Langwadt Christensen <langwadt@fonz.dk> - 2017-03-11 13:20 -0800
    Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-11 14:51 -0800
      Re: why analog electronics Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com> - 2017-03-12 13:28 +0000
        Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-12 10:49 -0700
          Re: why analog electronics Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com> - 2017-03-12 21:10 +0000
            Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-12 19:29 -0400
            Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-12 16:49 -0700
              Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-12 21:18 -0400
                Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-12 19:07 -0700
                Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-12 22:43 -0400
                Re: why analog electronics John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-12 19:53 -0700
                Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-12 23:01 -0400
                Re: why analog electronics pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-13 07:19 -0700
                Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-13 20:39 -0400
                Re: why analog electronics pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-14 04:28 -0700
                Re: why analog electronics krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-14 12:42 -0400
                Re: why analog electronics Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2017-03-15 09:56 -0400
  Re: why analog electronics George Herold <gherold@teachspin.com> - 2017-03-13 19:59 -0700

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