IEEE Spectrum readership...

[Bob Engelhardt]

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.

 

[Jeroen Belleman]

On 2023-01-17 18:14, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits \"The Inner Beauty of
Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components
that store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But
then, I wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a
reader of Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.

They\'ve replaced all competent personnel by cheaper simpletons.
They\'ve sawn off the branch they were sitting on. They deserved
to fall.

Jeroen Belleman

 

[Fred Bloggs]

On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 12:15:00 PM UTC-5, bobenge...@gmail.com wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

That\'s just a literary lead-in to the subtopic which is really about the construction/ manufacture of the components at a level just touching the highlights. The book probably has a lot of material in those diagrams even long time practicing designers have never actually seen. Looks like it\'s mainly addressing embedded systems/ makers types who work /with/ a lot of electronics but don\'t actually design the electronics.

They have a sample chapter here:
https://nostarch.com/download/OpenCircuits_Chapter1.pdf

Book page here:
https://nostarch.com/open-circuits

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.

Any thing to supplant that old format and content is a good thing.

 

[boB]

On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 10:24:22 -0800 (PST), Fred Bloggs
<bloggs.fredbloggs.fred@gmail.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 12:15:00 PM UTC-5, bobenge...@gmail.com wrote:
The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

That\'s just a literary lead-in to the subtopic which is really about the construction/ manufacture of the components at a level just touching the highlights. The book probably has a lot of material in those diagrams even long time practicing designers have never actually seen. Looks like it\'s mainly addressing embedded systems/ makers types who work /with/ a lot of electronics but don\'t actually design the electronics.

They have a sample chapter here:
https://nostarch.com/download/OpenCircuits_Chapter1.pdf

Book page here:
https://nostarch.com/open-circuits


So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.

Any thing to supplant that old format and content is a good thing.

Cool book !

boB

 

[Don Y]

On 1/17/2023 10:14 AM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic clueless.
E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that store energy in
the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers?  I always thought it was EE\'s/designers.
But if so, this article is way off target.  But then, I wouldn\'t expect the
reader that this intended for, to be a reader of Spectrum.  This seems like a
huge disconnect at Spectrum.

I suspect its just a reflection of a decline in readership of
traditional \"print\" publications. There\'s such a wide range
of on-line choices that it takes work to keep subscribers.
And, if you expect the writers to be competent, you have to
consider the wages/reward they can get elsewhere.

 

[a a]

On Tuesday, 17 January 2023 at 18:15:00 UTC+1, bobenge...@gmail.com wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.

who is IEEE if represented by #SydneyZOO daily

 

[boB]

On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:07:58 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:

On 1/17/2023 10:14 AM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic clueless.
E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that store energy in
the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers?  I always thought it was EE\'s/designers.
But if so, this article is way off target.  But then, I wouldn\'t expect the
reader that this intended for, to be a reader of Spectrum.  This seems like a
huge disconnect at Spectrum.

I suspect its just a reflection of a decline in readership of
traditional \"print\" publications. There\'s such a wide range
of on-line choices that it takes work to keep subscribers.
And, if you expect the writers to be competent, you have to
consider the wages/reward they can get elsewhere.

I usually read the IEEE Spectrum magazine or at least scan it.
Sometimes it has some good stuff.

I thought this open circuits thing was pretty interesting. But then
again, I like all this kind of stuff.

But articles are in general, being dumbed down a lot these days.
It\'s also hard to find experienced help. Maybe because they are
already working but I am sure there are WAY less of them in the US
today.

boB

 

[Anthony William Sloman]

On Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 10:33:57 AM UTC+11, a a wrote:

On Tuesday, 17 January 2023 at 18:15:00 UTC+1, bobenge...@gmail.com wrote:
The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum

who is IEEE if represented by #SydneyZOO daily.

A a is much too stupid to look it up. \"By 2020, IEEE comprised over 395,000 members in 160 countries. Through its global network of geographical units, publications, web services, and conferences, IEEE remains the world\'s largest technical professional organization.\"

It publishes some 130 peer-reviewed technical journals, which is what prompted me to join back in 1980.

Peer-reviewed means that clowns like a a find it hard to get published in them.

It has been going since 1884.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

 

[Anthony William Sloman]

On Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 11:21:47 AM UTC+11, boB wrote:

On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:07:58 -0700, Don Y
blocked...@foo.invalid> wrote:

On 1/17/2023 10:14 AM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic clueless.
E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that store energy in
the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was EE\'s/designers.
But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I wouldn\'t expect the
reader that this intended for, to be a reader of Spectrum. This seems like a
huge disconnect at Spectrum.

I suspect its just a reflection of a decline in readership of
traditional \"print\" publications. There\'s such a wide range
of on-line choices that it takes work to keep subscribers.
And, if you expect the writers to be competent, you have to
consider the wages/reward they can get elsewhere.
I usually read the IEEE Spectrum magazine or at least scan it.
Sometimes it has some good stuff.

I thought this open circuits thing was pretty interesting. But then
again, I like all this kind of stuff.

But articles are in general, being dumbed down a lot these days.
It\'s also hard to find experienced help. Maybe because they are
already working but I am sure there are WAY less of them in the US
today.

I doubt if there are actually fewer of them, but the rise of digital media means that they are spread thinner than they used to be, over a much wider range of publications.

Spectrum was never in the same league as Physics Today - different market.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

 

[a a]

#SydneyZOO turned IEEE into fake news agency

 

[Joe Gwinn]

On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:14:52 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
<BobEngelhardt@comcast.net> wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.

IEEE Spectrum is intended for the members of the IEEE, not all of
which are concerned with design of electronic components. All members
receive Spectrum. To get the technical journals, one often must join
the relevant community within the IEEE, although some tech journals
are available to multiple communities.

Spectrum\'s staff writers typically live in the NYC area, and are tech
writers by trade. Authors not on staff can be from anywhere.

Joe Gwinn

 

[a a]

On Wednesday, 18 January 2023 at 20:59:19 UTC+1, Joe Gwinn wrote:

On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:14:52 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
BobEng...@comcast.net> wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.
IEEE Spectrum is intended for the members of the IEEE, not all of
which are concerned with design of electronic components. All members
receive Spectrum. To get the technical journals, one often must join
the relevant community within the IEEE, although some tech journals
are available to multiple communities.

Spectrum\'s staff writers typically live in the NYC area, and are tech
writers by trade. Authors not on staff can be from anywhere.

Joe Gwinn
IEEE Spectrum is just one another blah blah blah popular science media

https://spectrum.ieee.org/

 

[Anthony William Sloman]

On Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 11:30:10 AM UTC+11, a a wrote:

On Wednesday, 18 January 2023 at 20:59:19 UTC+1, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:14:52 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
BobEng...@comcast.net> wrote:

The Spectrum has a recent article/book review:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-circuits
\"The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components\"

The article includes statements clearly addressing the electronic
clueless. E.g., \"Capacitors are fundamental electronic components that
store energy in the form of static electricity.\"

So who are the Spectrum\'s readers? I always thought it was
EE\'s/designers. But if so, this article is way off target. But then, I
wouldn\'t expect the reader that this intended for, to be a reader of
Spectrum. This seems like a huge disconnect at Spectrum.
IEEE Spectrum is intended for the members of the IEEE, not all of
which are concerned with design of electronic components. All members
receive Spectrum. To get the technical journals, one often must join
the relevant community within the IEEE, although some tech journals
are available to multiple communities.

Spectrum\'s staff writers typically live in the NYC area, and are tech
writers by trade. Authors not on staff can be from anywhere.

IEEE Spectrum is just one another blah blah blah popular science media

https://spectrum.ieee.org/

It can read that way, but it is written to be circulated to members of the IEEE, so there is an emphasis on the applications of electronics. It\'s not popular science because it is aimed at a specific population. 395,000 people aew quite a few, but they are a self-selected group who mostly pay to retain their membership - as a life member, I don\'t, any more, but I did for some thirty years. I\'ve got the same deal out of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. but I ended up paying them for longer.

That also delivers a monthly journal - not as good - with a similar sort of specialist bias. Of course I went through university with some of the people who write for them.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney