Why I think the electronics industry is a waste of resources
Growing up with an electrical engineer dad, I was accustomed to seeing PCBs (printed circuit boards) and electronic chips and components. And I loved it, I enjoy electronics and computers very much, which is why I'm a software engineer.
But let's be frank. The electronics industry is a waste of resources. Pen and paper is just fine for everyone.
You know, what happens to the copper on PCBs? They get etched off! They're either lasered off or removed with solution and never seen again. That's copper that they want for EV cars nowadays.
But inevitably, a PCB is more efficient at copper usage than a whole bunch of copper wiring in an ad-hoc wire-wrap circuit.
Of course, I talked about pen and paper before, and writing letters is more inefficient than sending emails, cause it costs petrol to deliver the letters. But CB/Ham radio is more efficient than emails, cause it's just sent over the airwaves, without needing a fibre optic or computer and servers and data centres to run the entire operation.
Morse code telegrams are probably the most resource efficient. They're like CB/Ham radio, but the resources used to create the telegraph machine is cheaper, since all it requires is a coil, however, radio wave interference would reduce its transmission distance, so they would use more electricity.
We need to socialise again. Pen and paper for writing down notes, just like in school, and using our mouths to talk, to give out ideas. They still do this, right?
You know, there's ways to create electronic circuits with conductive ink... imagine drawing a coil on paper, and that acts like an inductor... or two parallel lines, and that actually acts like a capacitor... in fact, circuit diagrams were made for a reason, in that it resembles an actual conductor at work, so conductive ink could be made to work that way.
I want everyone to experience the simpler life. A time where electronics isn't used, and everything can be made from scratch or improvised.
Tennis, anyone? (Wait a second... the machining that it takes to make a racquet, and the rubber used in the tennis ball...)
I know. My new hobby should be gardening. Some of mum's old bamboo shoots are dying/dead, so they need to be replaced.
Drinking tea and coffee. That's my favourite thing to do.
OMG, what is a geek supposed to do if everything is a stupid waste of resources? How do I align myself with the planet? Suggestions anyone?
