# Big Business Buffoonery

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2011-03-29
- Length: 1h 03m
- Episode: 36
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/the-amp-hour-36-big-business-buffoonery/

## Summary

Hosts Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss the shutdown of National Instruments' 'An Engineering Mind' blog, analyzing how corporate ownership stifled a successful personal brand. They critique the power efficiency design of the open-sourced Hewlett-Packard calculator, specifically the misuse of high-speed processing with coin cell batteries, and review new products from Touchstone Semi and Agilent. The episode concludes with commentary on Hackaday's hiring practices and the challenges of engineering design contests.

## Chapters

- [0:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=28) Introduction and Shout-outs: Mike Cowgill's LCR Meter
- [7:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=468) Rant: National Instruments Kills 'An Engineering Mind'
- [12:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=774) Rant: Engineers Leaving for Finance
- [15:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=935) Rant: US Gun Culture and Bird Noise
- [18:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=1116) Discussion: Radio Shack Catalogues and HP Open Source Calculator
- [28:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=1735) Technical Deep Dive: HP Calculator Battery ESR and Power Loss
- [34:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=2074) Discussion: Agilent vs. Keysight Scope Releases and FPGA Startups
- [42:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=2567) Company Spotlight: Touchstone Semi and Low-Voltage Op Amps
- [49:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery#t=2946) Discussion: Hackaday's 'Project Maker' Salary and Design Contests

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Batteries & low-power design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/batteries-and-low-power)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Test & measurement](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/test-and-measurement)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- National Instruments (company)
- An Engineering Mind (product)
- Hewlett-Packard (company)
- CR 2032 (chip)
- Agilent (company)
- Touchstone Semi (company)
- TSMC (company)
- Hackaday (company)
- Renesas (company)
- Texas Instruments (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep 313: Capacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny Everything](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2025-03-21-ep-313-capacitor-plague-wireless-power-and-tiny-everything-b56cece1) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [T-26-012 : Founders From The Show Floor - CES 2026](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-02-04-t-26-012-founders-from-the-show-floor-ces-2026) (TRADEOFFS)
- [47: Bridge of Toothpicks](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks) (Embedded.fm)
- [Ep 256: 0, 256, 400, 100, and 10000000](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2024-02-09-ep-256-0-256-400-100-and-10000000) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [317: What Do You Mean by Disintegrated? (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-10-06-317-what-do-you-mean-by-disintegrated-repeat) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-03-29-big-business-buffoonery. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.