I ! LOVE ! THAT ! STORY !!! On Fri, Apr 11, 2025 at 11:57 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On 4/11/25 10:47, Kelly Leavitt via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I cried a silent tear at the end of this once great (or at least mostly good) company.
"Gamom, take me to Radio Shack!", I said, as I puzzled over the numbers on the back of the IC package. I was trying to power up my first integrated circuit, a 7400 (quad 2-input NAND gate) which she had purchased for me the day before. I strode up to the counter and asked the man what value of resistor I needed to drop 9V (from a battery) to the 5V required by the IC.
He patiently explained that "it doesn't work that way" and, on the back of a sales receipt, taught me Ohm's Law. He spent quite a bit of time helping me understand it, correcting my erroneous assumptions, patiently working with me until I understood. After a bit of begging (we were poor) my grandmother purchased for me a 7805 voltage regulator.
I was seven years old, living in Browns Mills, NJ.
Fifty years has passed. As a design engineer, I use Ohm's Law every day. He's probably gone now, but I wish I'd caught that very patient Radio Shack salesman's name.
Suits can and will destroy everything. Don't let them into your company.
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA